Athanasius: the portrait of God

Monday, May 2, 2011
    Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
    —Luke 19:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You know what happens when a portrait that has been painted on a panel becomes obliterated through external stains. The artist does not throw away the panel, but the subject of the portrait has to come and sit for it again, and then the likeness is re-drawn on the same material. Even so was it with the All-holy son of God. He, the Image of the Father, came and dwelt in our midst, in order that he might renew mankind made after Himself, and seek out His lost sheep, even as He says in the Gospel: “I came to seek and to save that which was lost.” This also explains His saying to the Jews: “Except a man be born anew...” He was not referring to a man’s natural birth from his mother, as they thought, but to the re-birth and re-creation of the soul in the Image of God.
    ... St. Athanasius (293?-373), The Incarnation of the Word of God [4th century], St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996, XIV, p. 41-42 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, through You I have been remade. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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