Roberto Durán, one of the greatest boxers in history, was no theologian. But everytime I think of these words of his, I’m reminded of how natural it is for humans to aspire to BE God. Or at the very least, God-like.
I’ve heard Muhammad Ali was on an airplane when a stewardess told him he needed to fasten his seat belt. With a very familiar boxer-like swagger he responded, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” The stewardess shot back, “Superman don’t need no plane, either.”
In the Gospel for today (John 10:31-42) Jesus deals with the ramifications of calling Himself God. The Jews picked up rocks to stone him because “You, a man, are making yourself God.” The difference is that Jesus really IS God. But Jesus says something odd. “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods'”?
I cross checked this passage with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and came across paragraph 444, which references this today’s Gospel. But the last sentence in this paragraph gave me pause, and reminded me of Roberto Durán.
“Jesus calls Himself the “only Son of God,” and by this title affirms His eternal preexistence…Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title “Son of God” its full meaning.”
How can the believer “give” the title Son of God its full meaning? The most radical message of Christianity that sets it apart from any other religion, and the most central and pivotal mystery is most certainly the Incarnation. God became man. But that isn’t the end of the story. As St. Athanasius said “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” (CCC 460)
God becoming man changes everything. But the believer can give the “Son of God” its “full meaning” by participation in the Pascal Mystery and “becoming God.” This is what grace is: participation in the divine life. This is the heart of our Baptism, the only way we can become “like God”: entering *into* the death of Christ to experience His resurrection. This is living the virtues: acting with the will and heart of God. And prayer: the loving gaze of the Trinity. And the Mass: being caught up in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, to the Father in *communion* with them, by participation in the Pascal Mystery.
The implications of this are so far reaching that we would benefit from taking this to prayer as we prepare for Easter. “Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title “Son of God” its full meaning.”
Are you giving the title “Son of God” its full meaning? Or do you have rocks in your hands?
You are not God. But you are something similar.
Edmund Mitchell is the founder of Reverb Culture (reverbculture.com) and author of the book Dual Wielding: A Guide to Praying with the Catechism and Scripture (reverbculture.com/dualwield). Edmund works in ministry as the Director of Youth Evangelization and Catechesis at St. Francis of Assisi in Grapevine, Texas.
