Christ is the new and true Adam of mankind, the head of the body of the Church. The Pauline affirmation of the Body of Christ is found frequently in patristic texts. Cabasilas summarized the tradition when he wrote that \u201cWe are joined to him in the same body and share his life and are his members.\u201d\u00a0 Then, Cabasilas also added a new expression: Christ is the heart of the mystical body, the intimate principle of the life forces of the Church and each individual Christian.
\nYou will recall that it was Paul who first conceptualized the Church as the Body of Christ extended in time with Christ being the head and members of the Church the members of the body. In and through the Firstborn of all creation (Christ Jesus) the sanctification of the world ultimately results in the unity of the created order. The Fathers called this last state the final restoration of things, an idea which may be explained by the simple statement of Irenaeus: \u201cIn him, all became one\u2019.
\nThink back on Sophronius\u2019 Prayer for the Great Blessing of Water that we just prayed on Theophany. What the prayer says, in effect, is that all things have been made anew and united through the incarnation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. We are joined together with all created things in worshipping Almighty God.
\nMaximus the Confessor often pondered and wrote about the consequences for the world of the victory of Christ over the forces of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 disunity. For him, \u2019Christ is the center where all lines converge.\u2019 True Byzantine church architecture places an icon of the Pantocrator (the creator of all things) in the very center of the church where it is seen as the center of all the other iconography and of the cosmic orb.
\nEastern theology thinks of Christ as the principle of unity. The incarnation of God sustains the universe so that it does not collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christ is the new and true Adam of mankind, the head of the body of the Church. The Pauline affirmation of the Body of Christ is found frequently in patristic texts. Cabasilas summarized the tradition when he wrote that \u201cWe … Continue reading