Your soul is a picture of the angelic life; Angels: Day 357

Last updated on: July 15, 2017 at 3:30 am by Pete Socks

Your soul is a picture of the angelic life; Angels: Day 357 2017-07-09T10:13:24-05:00 Pete Socks

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Arguing for the divinity of the Holy Spirit, St. Gregory of Nyssa says that you know from your own experience that the Spirit is divine. Your own soul is intellectual and invisible, like the angels, and like the angels you cannot come near to God except by the Holy Spirit’s help.

Whoever agrees with us that the things above us are also ordered by the power of the Spirit with the Father and the Son has the support of clear evidence from his own life.

The nature of man is compounded of body and soul, and the angelic nature has for its portion life without a body. So if the Holy Spirit worked only in the case of bodies, and the soul were not capable of receiving the grace that comes from him, then we might perhaps infer from this, if the intellectual and incorporeal nature which is in us were above the power of the Spirit, that the angelic life too was in no need of his grace.

But if the gift of the Holy Spirit is mainly a grace of the soul, and the soul is similar to the life of the angels in its reason and its invisibility—well, then, anyone who knows how to reach a conclusion would agree that every intellectual nature is governed by the ordering of the Holy Spirit.

For since it is said that the “angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10), and it is not possible to behold the person of the Father except by training the sight on it through his image; and the image of the person of the Father is the Only-begotten, and to him again no one can draw near whose mind has not been illumined by the Holy Spirit—what else do we learn from this but that the Holy Spirit is not separated from anything that is done by the Father and the Son? –St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Trinity

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

Like me, the angels are spiritual beings. Unlike me, their spirit is unwavering. Do I strive with my angel’s help, to live with an angelic consistency in the choices I make each day?

CLOSING PRAYER

Guardian Angel, help me to make my soul a reflection of your purity.

Remember to subscribe to my feed so you will not miss a day! This recurring feature at The Catholic Blogger is possible through the cooperation of author Mike Aquilina and publisher Saint Benedict Press. To get your own copy of this book, click below.

A Year with the Angels

Mike Aquilina

Saint Benedict Press

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Previous Post

July 14, 2017

Peace which passes angels' understanding; Angles: Day 356

Next Post

July 16, 2017 Are we there yet?; Angels: Day 358

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Year with Mary A Year with the Angels A Year with the Church Fathers Book News Children's Review Featured CD Giveaway Guest Post Interview Linked Review Media review Movie Review New Releases Off the Shelf Review speakers Teen Review The Clergy Speaks The Laity Speaks The Open Book Podcast Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz