At her trial Saint Joan of Arc made her famous assertion, “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they are just one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.” The Christian life is about living the divine life in the person of Jesus Christ. St. Paul frequently describes grace as nothing less than a participation in the life of God.

Wishful Thinking
All too often this seems like nothing more than wishful thinking, and in the 1960s much was made of how Our Lord’s very clear commandments were nothing more than a set of unattainable ideals. They would have been right, were it not for the fact that through the centuries certain men and women have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to actually live this divine life. Their lives confirm the promise made by Jesus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).
Great miracles have been wrought, many millions converted, and many great works of charity undertaken by the saints, those men and women who have taken seriously the call of God to live the divine life. To say that this is simply idealism, the wishful thinking of quixotic peasants, is to ignore the facts, the facts of real sanctity. Any would-be atheist must ignore the facts of the Saints; lukewarm Christians must write them off as fanatics, but in the Catholic Church, special attention is paid to them.
Restoration and Reconciliation
First, the Saints show us just how much is possible with the grace of God. They show us, like Saint Augustine, how much God can change a person. Real restoration and real reconciliation are possible. Starting with Saint Paul, we see an unbroken line of sinners who, when incorporated into the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Baptism become Saints, and not in name only. Even further, we see the Saints used as signposts, pointing to the divine life working within us. The miracles the Saints perform serve to show that the curtain between heaven and earth is only paper thin. One can look in this past century to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, a man who in addition to bearing the stigmata most of his life, stopped bombs from falling, healed hundreds of the sick, read the souls of men, and was known to bi-locate. The skeptic will scoff , and it is natural to do so. Yet saintly life and saintly living are not natural at all. No, the Saints have grasped what it is to be supernatural.

Real Orthodoxy
Second, the saints show us real orthodoxy. They have given their lives for the glory of God, and have worshipped him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). Indeed this is the meaning of orthodoxy, the giving of correct, right, and appropriate glory to God. This results in right teaching and right practice. The Saints understand, however, that orthodoxy is born out of a soul that is properly aligned to God and His purposes, the soul that lives the divine life. Maximos the Confessor, a Saint of the 7th Century, is a prime example. He gave his life for the truth that in the person of Jesus Christ, both the human and divine wills are knit together. It was not, as many heretics said, that the divine will is the only will in Christ. The Catholic Church taught with one accord that the human will in Christ gives continual assent to the divine will.
One gets the sense that the Saints understand this, and the power thereof, because they had witnessed it personally in their own lives and wills. In an attempt to stop Maximus from proclaiming the gospel truth, his enemies had his right hand cut off and his tongue cut out. Yet by his willingness to accept his torture he continued to proclaim the gospel truth that salvation was not a matter of a Father “forcing” salvation upon man, or of Jesus Christ lovingly reconciling man to a wrathful Father, but of a reciprocal and cooperative act.

Co-operators in Redemption
This is the final point. The saints see themselves as co-operators in God’s work of, the work of redemption. They are not simply captives, even though they may sometimes describe themselves in this way. On the contrary, they have offered themselves fully to the will of God, daily making offering of themselves. The wonder is that this is the possibility for every Christian. Because the saints are not the elite chosen people, but rather cooperators with God, we too can join them in completely living the divine life. After all, we are in their fellowship - the Communion of Saints. They pray for us, and urge us to be their continual witness both in heaven and on earth.

Let us remember and yearn for this divine life, the true vocation of the Church made manifest in God’s Saints.

This article is from Forward In Christ magazine, a bi-monthly subscription magazine providing in-depth commentary and perspectives on Anglicanism today. Subscription Information Link

The Reverend Lee Nelson, SSC, is the rector of St John the Evangelist Church, Stockton, CA, Diocese of San Joaquin (ACNA).