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March 1

Christ in Us

Living the Christian life is not simply believing Jesus is Savior and Lord. It is also that Christ is found in us and grows in us and that our lives resemble that of Christ.

While the important theme of justification by faith was already emphasized by the early church father, St. Clement, the church fathers also focused on the centrality of a Christo-mysticism. Here the theme is that Christ is being formed in us. Thus we take on Christlike gestalt.

St. Simeon the New Theologian, in the eleventh century, wrote “The ineffable birth of the Word in the flesh from his mother is one thing, his spiritual birth in us [is] another.”60

This clearly is the work of the Holy Spirit weaving the presence of Christ into the very fabric of our being. It is also us taking on the gentle yoke of Christ. This results in us becoming more Christlike.

In this dynamic process we are invited to place the sanctuary of our being open to this inner spiritual formation. Thus we too have to become like Mary. We too need to say, be it to me according to your purpose and word of promise. We too need to allow the Spirit to have her way with us in this creative work of inner rehabilitation.

And throughout the entirety of our Christian life, we need to

welcome this renewing work of the Spirit so that the person and the pattern of the life of Christ become embedded in us. This is the heart of Christian formation.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, Son of the Father, may you grow in me and may I become more and more conformed to your likeness. Amen.