Born in the Spirit
- ROMANO GUARDINI
Christ in man draws man into himself.
In the Holy Spirit, man shares in Christ's existence, which is the life of his life.
The vital exchange between God and man established on that first Pentecost continues throughout time. This does not mean that man merely thinks of Christ or lovingly cherishes his image; what exists in him is the living reality of Jesus.
Man's desire to share in the life and destiny of another certainly exists, but even the profoundest union stops short at one barrier the fact that I am I and he is he. Love knows that complete union, complete exchange is impossible — cannot even be seriously hoped for. The human "we" capable of breaking the bonds of the ego simply does not exist.
For the dignity and glory of man is precisely this: that with certain reservations he can say, "l am I and no other." My every act begins in me, who am alone responsible for it. True, this fact also limits: I must always be myself; must always put up with me. This necessity of being myself is what insulates me mercilessly from others. What is I, is not you; what mine, not yours. The very fact that each of us is a specific being, with its own centre, own fate, differentiates and separates it from every other. In the love of Christ it is different.
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Acknowledgement
Msgr. Romano Guardini, "Born in the Spirit." from The Lord (Washington DC: Gateway Editions, a division of Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1982).
Reprinted with permission.
The Author
Romano Guardini (1885-1968) was a professor of philosophy and theology at the University of Munich. His books — those available in English — are The Inner Life of Jesus: Pattern of All Holiness, The End of the Modern World, The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer, The Lord, The Essential Guardini: An Anthology, Proclaiming the Sacred in a Modern World, The Spirit of the Liturgy, Living the Drama of Faith, Learning the Virtues: That Lead You to God, Romano Guardini: Spiritual Writings, The Death of Socrates, The Inner Life of Jesus: Pattern of All Holines, and The Rosary of Our Lady.
