The mark of divine filiation

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE have to be more familiar with this Christian doctrine about our divine filiation. Simply said it means that through God’s grace which he gives us, we become adopted children of his, sharers of his life and nature, without erasing the distinction between God who is our Father, the Model and the Keeper of such identity for us, and who is the creature.

We also have to realize that this divine filiation is actually meant for all of us. It is not reserved only to a few people or to some special kind of men and women.

To enable us to receive this grace and to become adopted children of his, God created us with a spiritual nature, endowed with intelligence and will that would enable us to know and love him. The ideal condition for us is to always have an intimate and constant relation with God.

This ideal condition was once expressed graphically when Christ described the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me,” he said. (Jn 10,27) In other words, for us to live out an authentic spirit of divine filiation, there should be some kind of synchronization between God’s will and our will.

We would always follow God’s will, regarding such disposition as the perfection of our freedom. To be sure, to attain such setting, we would need a certain discipline that would involve practices like prayer, recourse to the sacraments, deep knowledge of the doctrines of our faith. There is also need for continuing ascetical struggle and conversion, and the ability to discern the things of God amid our varying earthly conditions.

In short, we can truly say that we have a healthy spirit of divine filiation when we can honestly, accurately and with conviction say that we are doing nothing other than the will of God. Somehow, we can echo the words of St. Paul when he said: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2,20)

This may sound like something impossible to achieve, but with a strong faith lived consistently in our life, that impossibility can become not only possible, but also real. We should just train ourselves to feel at home with this incredible truth of our faith.

In this regard, we should try our best to go beyond our natural self without abandoning it, to enter into our supernatural self which God is offering us. For this, we have to live the Life in the Spirit.

That is to say, our life should be animated first of all by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God that makes us children of his in Christ, making us “alter Christus” (another Christ), since Christ is the pattern of our humanity. It should not be a life animated simply by natural elements and principles.

Somehow, we can say that we are living the life in the Spirit when we can see in ourselves the fruits of the Holy Spirit as mentioned by St. Paul. They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5,22-23)

Yes, in spite of the varying conditions of our earthly life, in spite of the many challenges and trials that we are going to encounter here, we can manage to enjoy these fruits. That’s when we can say that we are doing things in synch with God’s will and ways. That’s when we can say that we are truly living as children of God, that we have the mark of divine filiation!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com