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The Christians in the world
"Christians are indistinguishable from other men
either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities
of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life.
Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men.
Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to
dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever
city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their
lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing
through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the
disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their
homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and
have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not
their wives.
They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by
the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens
of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the
law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they
are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live
in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an
abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are
defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their
response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of
malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life.
They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet
no one can explain the reason for this hatred.
To speak in general terms, we may say that the
Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present
in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are
found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world.
As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living
in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul
and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because
of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates
the Christians, not because they have
done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.
Christians love those who hate them just as the soul
loves the body and all its members despite the body's hatred. It is by the soul,
enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is
by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is
held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and
Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the
freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul
benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under
persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function,
from which he is not permitted to excuse himself."
From a letter to Diognetus (Nn. 5-6; Funk, 397-401)
Prayer
Father
of all holiness, guide our hearts to you. Keep in the light of your truth all
those you have freed from the darkness of unbelief. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your
Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.
Prepared by the Spiritual Theology Department
of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
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