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Vigils Reading – 19th Sunday
August 11
HIS MOST DIVINE LIFE
From a commentary by Denis the Areopagite1
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In his goodness and love for humankind, Jesus, the most divine Word,
one, simple, and hidden, assumed our nature, appearing though unchanged in
his own nature as a being both composite and visible. Graciously he received us
into unifying communion with himself, joining our lowliness to his sublime
divinity, under the sole condition that we in our turn should adhere to him as
members of his body by living a pure and godly life like his, and not giving reign
to ruinous, death-dealing passions, which would make us incapable of union
with those completely healthy and divine members.
If we aspire to communion with Jesus, we must fix our eyes upon the most
holy life he lives in the flesh and follow the example of his divine innocence so
as to become pure and godlike. Then, in a manner befitting us, he will give us a
resemblance to himself.
The bishop manifests these truths in the sacred rites he performs when
he publicly unveils the hidden gifts, divides them into many parts, and by the
perfect union of the sacrament he distributes with those who receive it, admits
the recipients to communion with it. For by thus presenting Jesus Christ to our
eyes he shows us the very life of our spirit and understanding in a way
perceptible to our senses, as it were pictorially. He shows us how Christ came
forth from his divine concealment to assume for love of humanity our human
form, becoming completely human without loss of his own identity, how while
remaining unchanged he descended from his natural unity to the level of our
divisibility, and how through the beneficent deeds inspired by his love for us,
He calls the human race to communion with himself and to share in his
blessings. He asks only that we unite ourselves to his most divine life by3
imitating it to the best of our ability, so as to enter into a real communion with
God and his divine mysteries.