Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church
(Acts 15:7-21; John 15:9-11)
The name Athanasius
means immortal. St. Athanasius, of course, died, but he now enjoys
eternal life. He came to it by making good
use of the grace bestowed on him.
Athanasius both ingeniously defended the divinity of
Christ and severely suffered for his efforts.
When Arius taught that Christ could not be on the same level of the
Father, Athanasius rose in defense of the traditional teaching. He agreed with Arius that it is unimaginable how
God could constrict himself into a human body.
But, in contrast to the heretic (as we think of him), he realized that
God’s ways are infinitely beyond human imagining. Political machinations favored Arian teaching
for a time, and Athanasius was exiled repeatedly for his insistence on Christ’s
complete divinity. In the end, however,
his status as bishop of the prominent see of Alexandria was restored.
We do well to keep in mind Athanasius’ insight that God’s
ways transcend human understanding. Partly
on the authority of his genius and partly on our own experience of Christ’s
love, we hold fast to our belief that God made us, loves us, and reveals
Himself to us in Jesus Christ.
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