Repentance makes a new; Angels: Day 247

Last updated on: March 27, 2017 at 3:00 am by Pete Socks

Repentance makes a new; Angels: Day 247 2017-03-26T05:43:10-05:00 Pete Socks

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St. Augustine says that, when we repent of our sins, our “pain and tears” give birth to a new person, one who belongs in Heaven with Christ and the angels. We lose that heavenly citizenship when we relapse into our old sinful ways.

“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man, that you care for him?” (Ps. 8:4).

Every son of man is a man, although not every man is a son of man. Adam, for instance, was a man, but not a son of man. From that we may be able to tell what the difference is here between “man” and “son of man”: those who bear the image of the earthy man, who is not a son of man, are meant by the name of “men”; but those who bear the image of the heavenly Man should be called “sons of men.”

The repentance of the old man begets this “son of man”—that is, the new man—with pain and tears. Although he is new, he is still called a “man of the flesh” while he is fed with milk: “I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh,” says the apostle. And to show that they were not already regenerated, he adds, “as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food.” And when he relapses to the old life—as often happens—he hears in rebuke that he is a man: “are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men?” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

This is why the “son of man” was first visited in the person of the Lord Man himself, born of the Virgin Mary. Because of the very weakness of the flesh that the Wisdom of God condescended to bear, and the humiliation of the Passion, the Psalm (8:5) justly says of him, “You have made him a little less than the angels. But I add that glorification in which he rose and ascended into Heaven: “you crown him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands (Ps. 8:6). –St. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 8, 10-11

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

In spite of previous repentance, have I relapsed into old sins, rendering myself far lower than the angels and closer to the beasts?

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, though I have sinned often, permit me to stand before you with your angels and implore your forgiveness for all my sins.

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A Year with the Angels

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