SPIRITUAL LIFE DURING A PANDEMIC b y F R S E R A F I N O M . L A N Z E T TA
of God, by His eternal Charity, is of a supernatural order and makes man a partaker in the very life of God.TheFather,theSon,andtheHolySpiritthus liveinthesoul.Thelifeof theOne-in-Three:the generation of the Son and the breath of love that is the Holy Spirit are poured into the soul of man, so that he becomes a son in the Son and loves the Father with the same love as the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit. This divine life in us, which through grace allows God to give himself to us as father, friend, sanctifier, and helper, is developed by growing in obedience to Christ and letting Him grow in us, with his “wisdom, stature, and grace” Lk ( :52 Spiritual .)2 lifeisthereforelivingChrist, lov ingChristandconformingoneself toHim.Inshort: beingChrist;anotherChrist,butChristhimself. The following talk was given at Voice of the Family’s conWecanalsodefinethislifeintheSpirit - as“par ference “Health of the sick and salvation of souls – Church ticipation in the life of God through the merits of and society in this dark hour of history”, held in Rome on Jesus Christ”, or as “the life of God in us or the 1 Father 23 October 2021. life of Jesus in us”. Adolphe Tanqueray specifiesthat, havedividedthistalkintotwosections:Iwillfirst reflectontheimportanceof nourishing the spirexpressionsarecorrect,if onetakescare “These itual life in a situation of calamity, that is, when it is to explain them well in order to avoid any hint of moredi{culttodecipherthepresenceof God and pantheism. Weinfactdonothavealifeidentical thereforeamoresolidfaithandhopearerequired, to that of God or of Our Lord, but a likeness andthenIwilltrytoozeraninterpretationof ofthe this life, a finite, albeit real, participation in present epidemic-pandemic situation caused by thislife.Wecanthereforedefineit- asapartici COVID-19, highlighting the causes of the mark pation in the divine life, conferred by the Holy edly inadequate theological-spiritual response Spirit whoto dwells in us by virtue of the merits thephenomenon. of Jesus Christ, which we must cultivate against
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2 thetendenciesthatoppose it.” 1 .The spirituallifeof theChristian Letusbeginthisanalysisbydefiningwhat“spiritual Spiritual life, then, is the elevation of man with life”is.ThisislifeintheHolySpirit,who,byrespect virtueto material life, nourished by the external of His presence in us through sanctifying grace, and internal senses, transcending all in order to producestheindwellingof theMostHolyestablish Trinity himself in the only All, God, by virtue inthesoul.ThislifeinfusedwithinusbytheSpirit
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