First called Christians in Antioch, we now define Christianity as a belief system, a set of doctrines and principles by which Christians live. Is this accurate? Looking at Christianity in the early Church, another vision appears. Jesus’s last words tell us to Christify the world.

      “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:18).

Christianity is much different than an institutional organization with a set of doctrines and dogmas which create another belief system to help people live a better life here on earth. As then and now, Christianity is not an institution with bureaucracy, administrators, and managers running a non-profit business; yet the church easily appears like this. In reality, Christianity walks with Jesus Who restores what was lost.

After the fall, humanity lost the tangible presence of God. The world empty and hallow, Divinity re-enters at the incarnation. Jesus restores the tangible manifestation of God, making Himself physically present once again. He walks, talks, eats, and even cries revealing he is real, not a phantasm or figment of our imagination. In Jesus, God is truly present, not only in his Word, but especially in the Eucharist.

We become what we read and eat. To read Scripture, we Christify our minds to think like God. To receive the Eucharist, we Christify our heart, becoming one in body with Jesus. Christianity, then, reveals divinity, Jesus, restoring the marital relationship God wants with humanity. In this union, the Bridegroom, Jesus, restores our fallen humanity to its dignity.

Through his incarnation, Jesus becomes one with us so we can become one with Him as husband and wife are one. So bonded, Christ sacrifices his life upon the cross as the bridegroom gives his life to his bride. This marital relationship God wants with his people runs throughout the Old Testament. But St. Paul captures this covenant when he writes to the Ephesians stating:

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25–27).

Baptism, those cleansing waters, makes us spotless, immaculate. Baptism invites us to drink of that chalice filled with Christ’s blood—his divine life—through which He fills us with divine life. Cleansed of sin and filled with divine life, we now partake fully in his life-giving love. To partake, Jesus invites us to let us “Confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help” (Heb 4:16).

The throne of grace is Golgotha. This place of terror becomes the place of hope. On Golgotha, Jesus tested in every way, “yet without sin” (Heb 4:15), restores our life by destroying death, the result of sin. His death, the chalice Jesus had to drink, heals our wounds. By his death, we are restored to life. By his infirmities, our iniquities are removed. Crushed, He resurrects.

To Christify us, Jesus tells us we need baptism, not just the baptism of water, but the baptism into death like his, so we may be “united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5). To resurrect, Jesus tells us to drink the chalice, He has to drink. This chalice is not just a cup, but is the sacred vessel which the priests used to catch the blood of the lamb at Passover. Catching the blood, the priest brought the sacred chalice to the altar and poured out the blood as a remembrance of that first Passover through which the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from the Angel of Death. In the New Passover the blood is not a lamb, but the Lamb of God Who pours out his blood constantly upon Calvary out of love for us. Christianity is the new exodus leading out of sin and death, depicted by Calvary, into a life full of grace.

Nothing draws us as Lady Wisdom. She is   charming, inviting, generous, and affirming. Full of beauty, she radiates glory. Her glory uncreated, is begotten of love. Her love reveals the secrets that trace out the deep mysteries of life. Like a mother, Lady Wisdom embraces us as her children. In that embrace, we know “she understands all things, and she will guide us wisely in our actions and guard us with her glory” (Ws 9:11).

Lady Wisdom, the tree of life, is more precious than gold and silver, more important than honors and praise (Wis 3:18). She is refined seven times and of her glory we all receive, if we are willing to discern and listen to her counsel. “Happy is the man who finds her” (Pro 2:13). She protects us from the snares that try to entrap us and from the stones set to make us stumble and die. Opposite of Lady Folly, She is life and if we obey her commandments, we will live (Prov 4:4).

On the other hand, Lady Folly seduces us. Sultry and bewitching, she offers sweetness and softness that comforts; yet she drains us of life. Seduced, she teaches us to hate discipline and despise reproof. As a wild child, she is carefree. She flies into the face of the storm creating them as she has no restraint except to indulge in every desire.

Lady Folly can never satisfy our hunger for happiness. She always leaves us wanting, even panting, seducing us with treasures, pleasures, and powers only to crave all the more. She sits seductively calling us to imbibe in her ways. Attractive, her ways please for they seem so delightful. Deceived we harden ourselves against Wisdom’s warning:

“For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.  Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol” (Prov 5:3-5).

Hoping she will fulfill our deepest desires, her folly only enslaves us deeper into the abyss. With her, we become fools: drunk on foolish delights.

Lady Wisdom, however, exposes her folly and foolishness. She counters earthly delights with heavenly insights. She declares,

For she (Lady Wisdom) is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty … She is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his   goodness (Wis 7:25-26).

Lady Wisdom has mindfulness with manners. She discloses values and inspires. In her, we see the wisdom of the wise and choose to be wise not only in earthly affairs but in eternal insights. More than being sensible,  practical, and careful, Lady Wisdom inspires so we will seek her to understand the great mysteries of life, knowing choices have eternal consequences.

St. Paul expresses this division between wisdom and folly so vividly  stating: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Rom 7:15). This tug to do right conflicts our minds. Our divine nature seeks transcendence but we rather satisfy our earthly desires with folly.

Lady Wisdom, however, cuts like the two-edge sword, freeing us from our follies. Powers, pleasures and treasures are anchors weighing us down, but Lady Wisdom cuts the chains. With Lady Wisdom, temptations become stepping stones. Empowered by Wisdom’s strength, we confront temptations putting them under our feet, knowing they cannot save. They cannot heal. They cannot create lasting happiness. They do, however, strengthen our trust in divine power to overcome any vice. Strengthened, we walk the narrow road that leads to happiness in which lies the beauty and glory of God’s goodness.

Jesus asks the question: Who do you say I am? In reverse, He asks us: Who are you? Ultimately, the way you think of yourself determines how you will think of Him. Do you see yourself as created in his image and likeness with God-given talents: intellect, energies, efforts, opportunities, and relationships. In other words, do you see Him in yourself?

      Character is everything. Christ comes to give us his character. To have a Christian identity in which we have clear boundaries: the Ten Commandments, to protect ourselves from self-destruction.

Our choices reveal our thoughts. They determines character which safe-guard our dignity. If we lack character, our choices, when temptations come, will succumb. Without character, our integrity wavers.  Weakened, we lose our dignity as a person created in the image and likeness of God.

We choose according to the way we think about ourselves. If we think highly of ourselves, we will not succumb to choices that weaken or even destroy our self-worth. We protect ourselves from destructive behaviors: addictions, angers, abuse, and affairs.

The malice of these behaviors should be obvious; yet today they are clouded and many are confused especially about marriage, and divorce, as affairs destroy the essence of marriage. Because divorce is now normative, we forget the commandment: do not commit adultery. It protects marriage and the individuals from degrading their dignity and marriage itself:

Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way, the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.  (CCC # 2332)

Our character, when integrated, unites our passions and emotions with our reason and will. Integrated, a strong, vibrant character does not succumb to the affairs that dominate and plague many marriages today.

Men and women of character integrate their total self within their relationship. Sexuality does not define them, but it is integral. It is an essential part, but not the total part. In this light, the Catechism continues: Everyone, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. (CCC # 2333)

The physical, moral, and spiritual differences between men and woman are complementary. They orientate a couple towards the greatest gift, love. Love flourishing in family life creates harmony not only between themselves, but with their God. Their relationship emulates the relationships between the Father, Son and Spirit. Husbands give as the Father gives. The Son receives and returns the love as a wife does. The bond between the husband and wife is no different than the bond between the Father and Son.  Hence marriage is a sacrament, a sacred covenant, as is the Trinity.

Marriage reveals the Trinitarian relationship and reveals who we are. Sons and daughters of the Father. Through marriage, man and woman become one with each other as the Father, Son, and Spirit are one.

This oneness, divine friendship, comes at the price. Aquinas defines friendship as the greatest prize of healthy friendships because friends wish the best for the other, as Jesus wants our best: perfection.

Man and woman express friendship: an equality of dignity respecting their differences yet complementing and completing each other through unconditional love. Spouses willingly sacrifice everything for the good of the other. Marriage then, as Jesus defines, is of God: an irrevocable covenant between man and woman in which both are bonded together till death. 

Sadly, the Pharisees denied the permanence of marriage. They wanted divorce. To test Jesus , they asked if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason. For Jesus, marriage binds two person in a covenantal friendship and categorically excludes divorce because it partakes in God’s Trinitarian Love. No one ever conceives of the Father divorcing the Son. Why do we conceive reasons to justify divorce (certain behaviors excluded).

   Man and woman unite with each other, and in that union they unite with God. This sacramental union: a mysterious exchange of body, mind, heart, and soul with another, is for the soul purpose to gift their total being to another unconditionally and sacrificially. This union besides completing and complementing the other: creating the fullness of character, creates life — human life, our greatest treasure. A child is born out of this love, and becomes the expression of God’s love for us at the incarnation.

Every conception recalls and renews the incarnation, the covenant when the Son united Himself to our humanity through a woman, Mary. Each birth then renews Christ’s birth. It is literally another Christmas. 

Each marriage also recalls and renews the first marriage in which Adam beheld Eve and bonded with her, declaring: you are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

Because marriage and children recall and renew the life and love God has within Himself  and the life and love that God has for us, they are sacred. Nothing should ever put them asunder.

Yet today, divorce, contraception, abortion, and child-trafficking and a host of other social ills attack the sacredness of marriage. To combat these evils, Jesus declares  marriage indissoluble and children as the most precious gift God can give to humanity: life creating love.

Hell, Jesus graphically describes, is Gehenna, the cesspool of Jerusalem. Here demonic rituals took place (Jer 7) sacrificing to Molech the god of human sacrifice. This graphic, gruesome, and grisly place depicts hell both physically and spiritually. As a physical place, cesspools depict perfectly what hell is like. Worse than to see such a place is to sink and be swallowed up in the mire. Enticed then seduced, thinking of the past pleasures and powers, we become trapped, swamped, and debauched. We are powerless. Fear controls. We are in chains. Evil ecstasy possesses us. Ask anyone steeped in sin. They are addicted and cry out but feel absolutely powerless. They are choiceless.

   Hell, as a state of being, strangles us. Trapped, yet longing for God, we grasp and gasp. We long for the Holy Spirit to intoxicate us with his joy, filling us with his divine presence; yet despair purges hope. The Psalmist captures our state:

“For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me” (Ps 69:1–2.

Lost is the source of our well-being. No longer do we have the divine presence dwelling within to combat the evils we face. We live by fear not by courage. We despair for we are hopeless. Falling into the abyss where no one can help, futility swallows us.

   Hell experiences the loss of God. We abandon trust. Heaven, however, contradicts hell. Instead of allowing our addictions to debase us, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit comes and lifts us out of the abyss. His strength becomes our strength. His life-giving love becomes ours once again. His Spirit breathes new life into our lives. True, we are not in control because the Holy Spirit controls us. His control fills us with his Spirit Who pours into our souls a joy so powerful that no evil can touch.

   The Spirit gives us sobriety, a harmony of our minds, hearts, and wills, which fills our lives with heavenly joys. His Spirit empowers us to live outside ourselves by giving ourselves over to divine ecstasy. This ecstasy, in contrast to the evil ecstasies that enslave, sets us free. His Spirit enhances, improves, and embellishes our life adorning us with wonder and awe, counsel and courage, knowledge and understanding, fear and wisdom of the Lord. Life becomes abundant, filled with hope, courage, and fulfillment. A new awareness arises. We are fearless because Jesus tells us “Do not be afraid!” I am with you.

   Becoming secure, empowered, and fearless, we drink in the Holy Spirit and cut ourselves free from the roots of debauchery: our undisciplined  senses, frayed emotions, and the various lust in our hearts.

   Intoxicated by the Holy Spirit, we experience true ecstasy, not the ecstasy of escape: sin makes us escape from the dangers, powerlessness, and fears through our faulty passions, but the ecstasy that comes from the Divine. We are not stupefied as drugs and alcohol make us, but we elevate to another plane, intoxicated by the presence of God dwelling within us.

   Drinking from the Spirit heightens our senses. We think clearly and concisely. We choose wisely and correctly. Our whole being is aflame,  intoxicated with the Holy Spirit. Instead of becoming beastly, losing control over our passions and emotions, we become mystical, living through divine inspiration. Heightened, the Spirit empowers us to cast out demons, confront our sins, control our passions, and live in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, True Love!

Today, children are precious. They reveal an innocence and purity that endears us to engage and encourage them. Yet, this is not typical historically, especially in the ancient world where women and children were treated as commodities rather than as persons.

Women and children, especially orphans and widows, were prey and suffered the manipulation and deception of others, especially by men of means who used them for their advantage. For this reason, Jesus raised the Widow of Nain’s son. He knew what would happen to her after the funeral (Mark 12:41-44). So too Jesus invites the children to come to Him, telling us we need to become child-like, trusting Him, if we are going to enter into heaven (Mark 10:13-16).

Because of their poverty and neediness, children, orphans, and widows became slaves just to survive. To combat this mentality, God imposed a law declaring:

Cursed be anyone who deprives the resident alien, the orphan, or the widow of justice! All the people shall answer, Amen! (Dt 27:19)

To protect the innocent and needy, God throughout the scriptures commands us to protect and promote those who are vulnerable and defenseless. This divine teaching, a much different code than the pagan philosophy which dehumanized anyone who was weak or helpless, corrects our natural inclination to enslave those who are wanting.

Jesus, Who radiates might, power, and majesty as we see in the transfiguration, becomes like the orphan, like the widow, manipulated and mistreated. Yet, He chooses to become child-like, a servant Who serves us all serving us with humility and docility enhancing our dignity and beauty (Matt 20:28).

Lumen Gentium captures this concept when the authors, heavily influenced by St. John Paul II writes, “Man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (GS, # 24). Children, truly a gift from God no matter what struggles they may have, cause us to gift ourselves to them. This wonderful exchange in which children gifted to us, teach us to gift ourselves to them, making us child-like: meek and humble.

Jesus then Who is divine becomes like us out of meekness and humility. His childlikeness invites us to humility, serving Him sincerely as He served us purely. In serving Him, we see ourselves as the child. We see ourselves completely dependent upon Him. He becomes our Teacher, not to lord it over us, but to serve and protect us as his children, welcoming us with open arms.

This is the great mystery of faith. Greatness according to God’s way serves, knowing we are dependent upon the Lord. We, poor in spirit, become rich in grace when we completely cast our cares upon the Lord as a child casting his cares upon his parents. We completely abandon ourselves upon his Way — not our way.

Many today traumatized by the evils in the world want to lord it over those who have oppressed us. Yet, in the trauma of hardship, instead of seeking revenge, Jesus teaches that we too absorb and embrace the hardships, not as a masochist suffering from the sadist, but as Wisdom states a test: “that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance” (Wis 2:19). Through the trials of persecution, we not only imitate Jesus’ love, but we assimilate ourselves into his love. Assimilated, our love becomes pure and undefiled, not letting the injustices corrupt us, but offering forgiveness to the one’s committing injustices.

As did Jesus, we become a suffering servant as He did, returning good for evil and blessings when cursed. Instead of lashing out in bitterness and envy when persecuted, we cast away our revenge and replace it with reconciliation.

Reconciliation restores us for we see ourselves as sinners, for we see Jesus as our Savior. We no longer live by our personal code of honor, but by personal repentance, knowing that if Jesus forgives me, I can forgive others.

Reconciliation first forgives ourselves. No matter how shameful or humiliating my actions are, we repent as Peter exhorts. “With your whole hearts turn to God and he will blot out all your sins” (Acts 3:19). Seeking reconciliation is truly child-like. In their innocence, they want to restore broken relationships. They, in their purity of heart, reach out when others hurt. When we hurt, Jesus reaches out to us to heal our hurts and restore our goodness. He embraces us with open arms and welcomes us despite our tears.

Next, forgiving those who trespass against us is essential. Forgiving others is humanly impossible; yet it makes us most like God. If Jesus can forgive us while we were sinners, He wants us to forgive those who hurt us.

St. John Paul II addresses the dilemma between revenge and forgiveness when he traveled Croatia, a war-torn country, exhorting the citizens.

“To forgive and to be reconciled means to purify one’s memory of hatred, rancour, the desire for revenge; it means acknowledging as a brother even those who have wronged us; it means not being overcome by evil but overcoming evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21) (John Paul II, Homilies of Pope John Paul II, Homily October 3, 1998)

Forgiveness restores our freedom. No longer does revenge, bitterness, and envy imprison us, but it softens the hardness of heart to find peace within. To peace at peace in Christ Who teaches us the deeper meanings of our sufferings: divinization. To partake in God’s life by which we become full of grace.

Reconciliation then embraces my neediness as a child of the Father. I see my neediness. I need help and cast myself upon the mercy of the Father. This casting trusts for we do not cast ourselves upon the mercy of a tyrant, but upon the mercy of our loving Father Who washes our wounds, binds our brokenness, rebuilds our bodies, and enlivens our souls with his Spirit. As a child who throws himself into his father’s arms, we are held and healed in Christ.

Reconciliation restores our innocence. Embracing the turmoil and trauma others cause, as a child, we reach up to our Heavenly Father for his comfort and compassion. His embrace strengthens us, consoling us in our tears, healing the wounds even deep and penetrating. His love changes our pain from bitterness into a blessing. We understand divine love much different than human love.

Counter-cultural and counter-intuitive, Jesus inverts human love. Upon the cross, He forgives all, hoping we convert and accept his forgiveness. Jesus wants us to convert our thinking to his way of thinking allowing his power to infuse in us his Holy Spirit which humbles us to become child-like, despite the sinfulness and shamefulness we face.

Healing comes not from lording it over but by trusting as a child. This trust knows, just as a child knows, that the Father will bring good out of the evils we suffer: He offers grace, where evil abounds. Our hurt and shame become our honor and blessing for we know that despite our sinful world, Jesus heals and saves us from those very deeds I have done, and deeds others have done to harm me.