Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream

own union with humanity in the Incarnation. The soul is achieving its own union with God through
sharing in the very incarnation of the Son. By being assimilated more and more into Christ, it is
becoming more and more "Christoformed." Hence John can write:
In His Son Jesus Christ, the soul is most sublimely and intimately transformed in the
love of God. And with unspeakable delight she thanks and loves the Father again
through His Son Jesus. She does this united with Christ, together with Christ. cviii
Again we see that because Christ is sole mediator between the soul and God, there is no
leaving behind the humanity of Jesus.
Christ as Spouse
Not only is Christ our model and our mediator, our means to spiritual perfection, he is also
our spouse, and as such he represents the goal of the spiritual life, the union or spiritual marriage
between the soul and Christ. Writing of this union, John says:
When there is union of love, ... it is true to say that the Beloved lives in the
lover and the lover in the Beloved. Love produces such likeness in this transformation
of lovers that one can say each is the other and both are one .... Thus each
one loves in the other and is the other, and both are one in the transformation of
love. cix
In this union the soul "becomes divine, becomes God through participation," insofar as this is
possible in our earthly existence. cx And God weds himself to the soul in this spiritual marriage
precisely through the deep revelation of the mysteries of Christ's humanity to her. cxi
Describing this mystical union or marriage, in which Christ is our spouse, Edwards writes: cxii
... In this union the Lord reveals his secrets to the soul and communicates the mystery
of his Incarnation. cxiii In this union we are taken into the love of the Trinity in an
adoptive sonship. cxiv Even in the next life our joy will be to know in Jesus Christ the
mysteries of his Incarnation, and to be transformed "into the beauty of both his
created and uncreated wisdom, and also into the beauty of the union of the Word with
his humanity." cxv
21