Theological Foundations new file

55 CHAPTER TWO LIFE IN CHRIST According to the teaching of both the Founder and the Renovator of the Marians, it is Jesus Christ that leads man to God, to the love of Him and to total submission to Him. And it is this particular characteristic of their teaching that will be discussed in this chapter. The two authors pre- sent the main truths of the Christian life on the basis of the events and ideas in the Gospel. Jesus Christ and His teaching are the foundation from which they develop their own teachings on conversion, repentance and profound spiritual change. They point to Christ as the example to imitate and, therefore, the most perfect ideal of man and the model of all virtues. 1. The Theological Foundations of Life in Christ The starting point of Father Papczynski’s presentation of the Person of Jesus Christ is the scene in which Jesus silences the storm on the sea (cf. Mt 8, 23-27). The storm broke out and raged while Our Savior was sleeping quietly in the boat and His disciples were “fighting” with the high waves. Jesus wanted to test the Apostles’ faith. When He silenced the wind and the sea, the amazed disciples cried out: “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” (Mt 8, 27). And so, who is Jesus, the One whom we receive in the Eucharist? — asks Father Stanislaus. “He is alive, immortal, powerful, gentle, invinci- ble; He is good, merciful, very gracious — the Supreme One; He is quiet, kind-hearted, He is Wisdom, Love, Truth, the fullness of all Life and all Good. Picture it to yourself and imagine gold, silver, precious stones, all the jewels of the world, all the riches and delights of heaven, the world with all creation, the heaven with all the angels and saints. All