Our entire human nature, body and soul, serves as the vessel through which the Word of the Heavenly Father speaks and manifests itself, revealing in the material universe and allowing the Holy Spirit to make His Word fruitful.
Our identity takes shape and form like heaven and earth at the beginning of creation. Saint Gregory of Narek describes this as God adorning us with reason, illuminating us, inspiring His own life within us, enriching us with understanding, and grounding it firmly in disciplined insight, uprightness, justice, and fairness (Proverbs 1.3). This sets us apart from other living beings, unites us intimately with a rational soul, grants us sovereign existence, and gives us life as our Father. He nurtures us, waters us with living waters, purifies us with the divine light of baptism, provides us with heavenly bread, and offers us the cup of divine blood (Prayer 5.2).
The Father unites us as one Body, the Church, with His Word as the head. This truly defines our identity. To fully understand Narekatsi’s description, we need to enter into the Holy Spirit-Psyche of the Father’s Word. Only then can we recognize the true identity of the Word and His Psychology.
God’s Word does not make us helpers endowed with reason, secretaries, or representatives bringing His Word to others. He makes us new sovereign citizens of the heavenly kingdom, who receive through the power of the Sacrament of Baptism “everything that the Father has” (see Luke 15.13). Everything. “Christ made His disciples knowers of God through many miracles, and they entered into union with the beauty and form of the one nature and three persons of God,” taught Saint Gregory the Illuminator King Tiridates, says Agathangelos the historian.
We will discover our true identity only when we come to see the Father’s Word and accept Him sincerely. Then, we will recognize the similarity between our image and its divine original. At that point, we will begin speaking the language of the Holy Spirit so that everyone will see us as the true image of God. John Henry Newman recognizes this divine identity as the true nature of human conscience and calls it “the voice of God.” This voice is embedded deep within us as the truth we must acknowledge and follow. Only then will we truly understand the meaning of the commonly used phrase “freedom of conscience.” It’s not about what I want to do, but about listening to the voice of God, paying attention to the Heavenly Father’s Word, so that His Holy Spirit can work through my nature and abilities, sanctifying my environment.
Once we discover the truth and draw our nourishment from its eternal realities, we will become familiar with the language of love. We will act in accordance with the reasons guided by love. We will live a life of love.
