13. Now our Lord has not left the minds of
His faithful followers in doubt, but has explained the manner in which
His nature operates, saying, That they may be one, as We are
one: I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in
one Ib.
22, 23.. Now I ask those who bring forward a
unity of will between Father and Son, whether Christ is in us to-day
through verity of nature or through agreement of will. For if in
truth the Word has been made flesh and we in very truth receive the
Word made flesh as food from the Lord, are we not bound to believe that
He abides in us naturally, Who, born as a man, has assumed the nature
of our flesh now inseparable from Himself, and has conjoined the nature
of His own flesh to the nature of the eternal Godhead in the sacrament
by which His flesh is communicated to us? For so are we all one,
because the Father is in Christ and Christ in us. Whosoever then
shall deny that the Father is in Christ naturally must first deny that
either he is himself in Christ naturally, or Christ in him, because the
Father in Christ and Christ in us make us one in Them. Hence, if
indeed Christ has taken to Himself the flesh of our body, and that Man
Who was born from Mary was indeed Christ, and we indeed receive in a
mystery the flesh of His body—(and for this cause we shall be
one, because the Father is in Him and He in us),—how can a unity
of will be maintained, seeing that the special property of nature
received through the sacrament is the sacrament of a perfect
unity If in the Sacrament we
hold real communion with the Father and the Son, the union of Father
and Son on which it is based must be also real, and not a mere concord
of will.?