Article #2 - Fifth Series - July 3rd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ - Article #2 -  Fifth Series - July 3rd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor's Note: This article is an adapted version of a homily preached on July 4, 2021. Fr. Ben Daghir was a transitional deacon at the time of this homily and studying for the priesthood. The scripture readings come from the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Ezekiel 2:2-5, Psalm 123:1-4, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, and the Gospel of Mark 6:1-6. 

Article:

Today we celebrate Independence Day as a nation. It's beautiful to see so many of you wearing red, blue, and white. You know, throughout Catholic history red and blue have always signified humanity and divinity. Take a moment and look at an image of the Virgin Mary - she's always wrapped in blue. This is because she is the Mother of God - it's only fitting that she's wrapped in blue. Notice, too, that Jesus is often portrayed with both red and blue. Jesus is both human and divine. "The word was made flesh and dwelt among us" - we hear these words in the opening of John's Gospel. The word and flesh (blue and red) embrace in the person of Jesus without any mixing, mingling, or confusion. 

Here's an image to ponder: there is a remarkable encounter in the Old Testament between God and Moses. Moses sees a burning bush that is on fire, but the fire is not consuming the bush. Moses, of course, hears God from this strange, intriguing bush. God answers him with, "I am who I am." The early Church Fathers saw this image as a perfect illustration to understand how divinity and humanity are not at odds with one another, but rather can fit together without any mixing, mingling, or confusion. 

In other words, when God enters into creation he does not diminish the integrity of the creature he becomes. Also, God does not lose any of his divinity in the process. This image of the burning bush points to the most peculiar, interesting, strange, and remarkable doctrine of the Catholic faith - the Incarnation. God enters into our human condition in the person of Jesus Christ. Like the burning bush, the divinity of God is not undermined in the Incarnation and the human he becomes is also not diminished. 

The red and the blue, much like the United States flag, can be side by side - without mixing, mingling, or confusion. 

This incarnate movement of God enters into our humanity through the sacraments. We receive God and our humanity is not diminished, restricted, or manipulated. Rather, we become fully alive. St. Irenaeus once stated, "Gloria Dei est homo vivens" (The glory of God is the human being fully alive). In other words, just as God entered into the burning bush without diminishing the bush itself, God became human without diminishing the human being he became. So too, God enters into our lives without diminishing us but rather enabling, illuminating, and enhancing who we truly are. 

I immediately think of St. Paul's words in his letter to the Galatians, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Paul understood this encounter with God - that he could become fully alive and be filled with the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. In other words, he could have remained just a bush, but he accepted the invitation to be on fire. Such is the power of Christ. 

You can see the logic that flows from here: the bush, Christ himself, and Christ living in us.

The same logic flows for God entering into our country and helping us to thrive as a united nation. The blue and the red (as our American flag suggests) can be together - divinity and humanity are not at odds with one another. Every one of the Founding Fathers had a Christian, biblical worldview. They understood that it is only with God (who is the source of life, liberty, and happiness) that a nation such as the United States of America could become a reality.  

President Abraham Lincoln who brought this nation together during her most vulnerable, weakened chapter had a Christian, biblical worldview. He understood that God is not a threat to our human flourishing but rather the sheer grace, the sheer fire of this nation.

Think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - he also had a Christian, biblical worldview. Consider his remarkable "I have a Dream" speech from 1963, "When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children...will be able to join hands." Only the biblical imagination can conceive of this vision - of humanity and divinity in an embrace which endures. All divisions can only be cured and healed through the embrace of humanity and divinity. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this deep within his mind and heart. 

It's this biblical vision of humanity and divinity embracing which brings us to the roots of America on this Independence Day. 

Our nation has many threats, and I have no desire to be a prophet of doom. Predictions of doom are simply not helpful. There are false philosophical ideas though which have bled into this nation and throughout the world. 

I think of Ludwig Feuerbach who stated that God is simply a projection of our own, idealized self. In other words, "I wish I were all powerful" so I project this image of an omnipotent God. Or, "I wish I were all knowing" so I project this image of an omniscient God. He even went as far to say that the "no to God is the yes to humanity." Feuerbach encouraged people to throw out the projections, stop praying to a fantasy, and go realize yourself. For Feuerbach, the burning bush was simply a figment of Moses' imagination. 

I also think of Jean-Paul Sartre who saw the embrace of divinity and humanity as a threat to the human person's freedom. He stated it in this syllogism, "If God exists, then I am not free. But I am free, therefore - God does not exist." Simply put, God is a threat to Sartre's understanding of freedom. Blue and red cannot be side by side but rather one restricts and even chokes the other. 

These philosophical ideas of Feuerbach and Sartre are no longer simply ideas in university classrooms, but rather have bled into every facet of society. These ideas are quite present in the United States of America today. 

The great Christian claim is that God became man and that humanity and divinity are not at odds with one another. Paul articulates this downward trajectory of God entering into our humanity like this, "Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave...it was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross" (Philippians 2: 6-11). 

Peace. Justice. Equality. Liberty. Unity. Sacrifice. Truth. All of these virtues and values that we hold so dear to our American hearts are found in the embrace of divinity and humanity - in and through the person of Christ. It's the sacrificial, downward movement of divinity into our fallen state and the upward movement of humanity toward the heavens which provides the true soil for our nation. 

Take a look at our American flag when you get the chance - notice how the blue and the red only compliment one another. Christianity, philosophy, and history couldn't agree more. Happy Independence Day. 
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.