1. According to the Second Vatican Council, we can "share in the divine nature": we can participate in this eternal communion of love which has been going all from all eternity – even before the world was created.  Indeed, the world was created because of the fullness and fecundity of that love. It didn't "need" others, but it was a joy and a delight to share the love with others.

2. How would God share that eternal communion of love with us?  How would we participate in it?  God would have to love us first.  And He would have to create us first (which is the same thing as loving us).  Indeed, He created us out of love in order to share in that limitless communion of love which has been going on from all eternity. 

3. So, those who share a faith in the one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, believe that: 

God shares His wisdom and love with us first of all in and through creation.

– all of creation, including us: each human individual, and every other thing that exists in the universe.

4. But there is more:  To all humans (ever since there have been humans), He has also revealed that we have a destiny beyond nature and natural death (namely, eternal life). 

5. Because think about it:  If we look at nature, we might mistakenly conclude that our participation in God's eternal communion of love is as limited as is everything else in nature.  Everything in nature flowers for a season, but then dies.  Not so with God's love.  The fate we see all around us in nature is not the end God has in mind for us.  That eternal communion of love transcends time, space, and even death.  (Indeed, eventually God will make it abundantly clear that His love is so powerful that it can transcend the limitations even of our sin.)

6. But how do we know that God has in mind not only the human species as a whole, but each individual person?  How do we know that His concern is not only for the health and welfare of the "zoo of humanity" (which would be an easy conclusion to draw, by the way), but also for each individual person?

7. Because, in the Scriptures, we read that God revealed Himself to very particular people in order to enter into a relationship with that person, to help and save that person, and to address the needs of that person.

8. In the Old Testament, for example, we see God revealing Himself and entering into a relationship with, for example, a relatively poor, childless wandering nomadic tribesman by the name of Abram (Abraham).

9. Because Abram puts his faith in God, God not only gives this poor, childless nomad a biological son, but He makes into the "father of a great nation."  Now, are we all descended from Abram biologically or genetically, in the way we might be from our first parents?  No.  But St. Paul tells us (in Gal 4 and Rom 3) that Abraham is our "father in faith"; our father, that is, in accepting with his whole being, that infinite communion with our Creator.  After the fall of our first parents, therefore, there is a new beginning – a beginning founded in faith and trust and love – that happens with Abraham.

10. But there is more.  God also calls us together into a "people" (which makes sense if the goal is communion with both God and neighbor).  We are not disassociated individuals (constantly fighting, competing, kill or be killed): we are a meant to be a community of persons.  God comes to individuals, yes; but He also, and more often, speaks to us as "His people."

12. How do we know that this is the case and understand what this means?  We have another series of stories in the Old Testament, about this "people" who wandered down into Egypt, where they thrived for a time, but then they were enslaved and put under harsh bondage, and so were in need of REDEMPTION.  They needed to be rescued from their slavery and brought back into the freedom that was their birthright.

13. Liberation for that "people" came through Moses.

14. As part of their liberation, God led them into the desert, where he made a COVENANT with them and, most importantly, He gave them His LAW.  This is meant to be a gift, not a burden.

15. So what those who share a faith in the one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, believe  is that:

16. Then what?  The people have the law – they know what they should do and how they should live – but do they?  No.  They kill; they steal; they commit adultery; they covet, quarrel, and fight (just like us: we are supposed to see ourselves in the story of this "people").  In short, they (as do we) destroy the possibility of enjoying communion among themselves and with God.   So God sends them messengers – people who speak His word to the people – to exhort them to faithfulness to the law and the covenant, so that they may "flourish in the land."  These messengers – prophets is what we call them – exhort the people to be just and righteous:  just and righteous in their hearts, not using the law to justify themselves (becoming self-righteous ) and then using the law again to cheat the poor, while ignoring the widow and the orphan. Can you have a communion of love if you're screwing over your neighbor?

17. These messengers, moreover, namely the prophets, also promise that soon God will come to dwell among them in an even more intimate and personal way than ever before.  Be attentive, they say, because God will be establishing "a new kingdom" (a promise made during the time of a monarchy) – a new kingdom which will be God's own kingdom.

18. Now what would you be expecting if someone told you to expect the coming of God's kingdom?  What would you be looking for if someone told you that God was going to come and show Himself to all and dwell among His people in all His glory?  Who would you be expecting?  Someone with power, with majesty – someone slightly (or more than just slightly) dangerous, who would lord over others with his vast powers and mightiness?

19. That would make sense if that were what God was really like.  But what if God (though yes, powerful, mighty and all the rest) was fundamentally love – an eternal communion of love.  How would He reveal Himself to us if He wanted to "speak to men as friends"?  Perhaps by "emptying Himself of His divinity" and becoming one of us.  By serving, rather than being served.  By dying, so that we might have life – indeed, eternal life.

21. Who is Jesus?  As we have seen, Christians believe that He is the Son of God incarnate – fully God and yet fully man.

22. What does He do?  He speaks the words of God (in person), He heals, He feeds, He forgives sins, He loves even when we reject Him.  Indeed, He is even willing to die for us – even though we are sinners, even though we are the ones who have rejected Him.  Now that is love.  He shows God's love in His life and death, and also in His resurrection, which shows that God's love can't die, it can't be killed.  It transcends even death.

23. Then what happens?  What happens to us?  The Apostle Paul talks about our salvation in terms of being "incorporated" into the Body of Christ.  The "Body" has many members, which look very different and do very different things, but they are all still united in one Body – perhaps the way the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in one (Being), although they remain different Persons.  Where is Christ's "body" now?  We are His Body.  How does God speak to His people, heal His people, give them consolation and forgiveness now?  We are his ministers.  We are meant to become Christ for others.

24. Does this revelation of God's love through the Son becoming a true human person, living among us, dying for us, and rising from the dead – does that revelation of who God is – negate the other revelations (through creation, to individuals, and through the law and the prophets, to name just three)?  No.  Rather, it can serve to affirm them and complete them.  Let's see how.

25. Take, for example, creation.  We said, first of all, that God reveals His wisdom and love (that is, He reveals Himself) to us in and through creation.

26. Recall that, according to the beginning of the Gospel of John, the same Word who "in the beginning" created the world is the same Word that became flesh in Jesus Christ.  God does reveal Himself to us in and through creation.

27. Think about it, though: it is possible, after all, to look at nature and think that perhaps it was made by an angry or vengeful or capricious god or gods.  It is possible to think that the gods made the world and made mankind just to serve them (to make their lives easier and to have the pleasure of lording it over us) and that our job in life is basically to placate these angry, capricious deities.  This is a common view of the gods.

28. If, however, we thought that the God who became incarnate, lived among us and was willing to die for us was the same God who created the entire universe, what would that tell us (or at least reassure us) about the world?  Would it not tell us that He is not flighty, whimsical, angry, jealous, out of control, power-hoarding; rather, He is loving and sacrificing. God made the universe, not for Himself, but for us.  Why did God create the world?  He made it to enter into a relationship of love with us.

29. Secondly, we said that God reveals Himself to us, from the time of our first parents, in even more profound ways, to each individual.

30. Yes, God does reveal Himself to each one of us.  But if you think that what "God" is about is hatred, vengeance, power, lordliness, pre-eminence, always victorious, then what kind of relationship will you have with Him?  If you understood from the story of Jesus that God is trying to show us that He is primarily love, and that loving – entering into the communion of love – is the way for us to become "like God" and to live life to the fullest, then your relationship with God would be quite different.

31. Thirdly, we said that God reveals His wisdom and love to us in and through the covenant, the Law and the prophets.  Yes, God does reveal His love (Himself) to us in and through the law.  He means it for our good.  He gives it out of love so that we can love (and live) more perfectly.  And yet it is certainly possible to look upon the law as a burden – as a big kill-joy, given by a God who is, as an English school child once wrote: "always looking around to see if anyone is having a good time, and then putting a stop to it."  But what if you thought that the God who gave us the law was in fact the same God who died for us?  Then how would you view the law?

32. Finally, as we mentioned, some people believe that God's love is revealed most fully, most intimately, most clearly in Jesus and in what Jesus did (namely, that He was willing to die for sinners, forgive them, and in the fact that His love surpassed even death – even a death from torture.  That's how great His love is.  It can't die, and ultimately we can't kill it – although we can say "no" to it.)

33. God's eternal communion of love is made present – revealed most fully – to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

How? 

34. How do we participate in that eternal communion of love?  How, in other words, do we share in the divine nature?

Well, one fairly obvious answer would be: by loving.

35. But what makes that possible?  God's love.  That love precedes your acceptance.  The acceptance of the love is made possible by the love.  It is not the case that we exist first, then become worthy of God's love, and then He loves us in return – which would make no sense, because:
A) He is the one who created us (how could we have deserved anything before we even existed;
B) He created us in order to share love with us; and
C) any love that waits for "worthiness" isn't real love; don't we want people to "believe" in us even before we've "proven" ourselves to them?  Indeed, it's the people who believe in us without demonstration who get so much more out of us.  Waiting for demonstration of ability is what Olympic judges do (if they haven't been bribed); believing in abilities not yet demonstrated is what good parents and coaches do.

36. So, far from it being the case that we exist first, then become worthy of God's love, and only then does He love us in return, God's love makes our existence and our response in love possible.  (Christians call this "love-which-makes-a-new-sort-of-being-possible" GRACE.)

37. But if God has made this "invitation" to enter into this communion of love (by revealing Himself to us in and through creation, in and through the law, and above all, in and through the person of Jesus Christ), what would our response be?

38. One way of talking about it would be to say that we must "accept it in faith."  What does that mean?

39. Well, at the very least, it probably means something like what we mean when we talk about accepting any relationship "in trust" or "with fidelity."  Since what is being revealed – what is being offered – is not just information, but God Himself, the response that is being invited is to open oneself up fully to the Other (in this case, God).  Doesn't every invitation of love involve accepting and responding to the invitation with faith, hope, and love?

Faith = Believing in the love.
Hope = Being open to the new possibilities that the love opens up for you.
Love = Now not only "receiving" love, but returning that love in thanksgiving and being animated     by love yourself.

40. When you think about the concept of accepting God's invitation in faith, perhaps it might help to think of it in terms of the related term, "fidelity."  Is it possible to have a true, honest, open relationship without fidelity?

41. Talking about it in this way shows us that, when we are talking about entering into a "relationship with God" and about "entering into a communion of love," we definitely aren't – far from it – talking about something soft and squishy, warm and fuzzy, waterfalls and guitar music.  Love – true love – isn't just about having mushy emotions or feelings that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  True love (as any parent will tell you) involves commitment ; it involves work and restraint and self-discipline;  it often involves (usually involves?) putting the other person first and not putting yourself first all the time; it involves justice and decency ;  it involves willing the good, hoping for the best, and making that a reality through one's actions as much as possible.
 
42. Think about this as well:  If someone invites you into a relationship of love (only because they love you, perhaps even in spite of yourself), and then you spit in their face and think, "Well, that's that"; and sometime later, you find out that, in spite of all that, they still spoke out on your behalf before people who were trying to kick you out of school; what would "accepting that in faith" mean?

Wouldn't that mean something like the following:

43. Now, would you not be loved if you didn't:

44. No, you'd still be loved, but you wouldn't necessarily be getting the full benefits, the full fruits, of that love.  (They're still fine; you're the one who would be missing out.)

45. And of course, you might:

46. So, would God not love you if you didn't know (or believe) that God even existed? 

47. No. But it certainly makes it much more difficult to enter into that eternal communion of love if you don't think it even exists.  Wouldn't it be better to know (through faith: the way we have to "know" love) that there exists someone who does love you, infinitely, and that you were created out of love in order to share love?  Wouldn't it be better to know (through faith) rather than not to know?  Would it make any difference in your life?  

48. Would God not love you if you thought that a "God" existed, but you didn't believe that He loved you, was on your side, and wanted the best for you? 

49. No, but it certainly makes it much more difficult to enter into that eternal communion of love if you think that God hates you or that He doesn't give a damn about you.  Wouldn't it be better to know (through faith: the way we have to "know" love) that God does love you, if in fact it were true?  (Although granted, there's no point in simply indulging ourselves in wishful thinking.)

50. Would God not love you if you thought that "God" existed, and you even believed that He loved you, but you didn't know that He loved you so much that He was willing to die for you (and in fact, had actually died for you)? 

51. No, but wouldn't it be better to know the extent of God's love, and indeed, the actual manifestations of that love in actual deeds?  Would that make any difference in your life?  It wouldn't necessarily change God or God's love, but it might very well change you and change the way you live your life; although, admittedly, then again, it might not.  You might be like the guy who:

52. So, "accepting this person Jesus Christ in faith" means a number of things:

53. Again, let me repeat.  Would God not love you if you:

54. No.  But that's not bad for God. It might, however, be bad for you. Not because God hates you now and will "punish" you with bolts of lightening or something, but primarily because you're missing out on what makes life worth living:  namely, sharing in that commuion of love.  Or to put it another way, we might say: "It's not that God wouldn't love you if you rejected Him (in either way A, B, or C), but wouldn't it be better for you if you actually did believe in that love, accepted that love, and embraced it, loving in return?"

55. That is the fundamental question you have to ask yourself.

56. Now, is it conceivable that a person might in some sense "believe in" or "accept" God's love -- in other words, could a person enter into that loving communion with God -- without knowing that God did this particular, incredible act of love (namely, call Abraham, make the covenant, give the Law, speak through the prophets, and die for us on a cross)? 

57. It might well be possible.  And although it might be even better for a person to know about that particular, incredible, and really decisive act of love, there would be no point in trying to force someone to believe in it and be grateful for it, would there?  How could you force them to believe in love, and then to be grateful for that love in return?  All you can do is invite them.  If they don't accept the invitation, then perhaps all you can do is:

58. But whatever we can or cannot say about other people (and let's be honest, in most cases, we don't know whether they do what they do out of love or not – that's just not the sort of information we have access to), we can perhaps say this:

60. There's just no way around it, and we must be very honest about this: it is very possible to say a big, fat no to the invitation.  You are certainly free not to accept it in faith, and with hope and love.

61. The love is still there; but if you reject it – either because you don't believe it, or you just don't care – then there is simply no way of enjoying its benefits.

62. There is no way to get the benefits of commitment without commitment.  You can't get the benefits of an honest, open, loving relationship without the honest, open, loving relationship (along with all the work, all the discipline and self-restraint, and all the kindness, good will, and good works that such a relationship entails).  It's just not possible.  It's not a question of God "punishing" you; it's just not possible for you to get the benefits of a loving relationship, if you don't believe in it, accept it, and embrace it, loving faithfully in return.  To think otherwise, is just pure foolishness.  It's to engage in a dangerous illusion.  It's not living in the real world.  It's like thinking you can go out into the desert without any water. It's like being a plant and thinking that you can live and thrive without the sun: by putting yourself in a dark closet somewhere.  If you don't have water, or the sun, or, more to the point,  a community of persons with whom you can share fully in an honest, open, loving way, and to whom you show a fidelity free from selfishness, injury, and ill will, if you don't accept the gift of those things, you just can't survive, let alone thrive.

63. If you do accept those things, however, and enter into that eternal communion of love – share, to a greater and greater extent in the divine nature –  this is what makes life, real life, life "pushed down, shaken together and overflowing," in other words, the kind of full, meaningful life that men and women are meant to have, eternal life – accepting that invitation in faith is what makes that possible.