“he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will” Ephesians 1:5

In Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, he explains that we have been predestined to be adopted sons in the Son through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Through receiving “the Spirit of adoption of sons,” a completely new life is bestowed upon the Christian, fundamentally changing his existence.  As a consequence of this filiation, the Christian is now able to address the Father as Abba, the same term of intimacy by which the Son addresses his Father.  Thus, through adoption, the Christian is drawn into the Son’s own relationship with the Father. The adoption of the Christian takes place through his incorporation into the Church through baptism. The Catechism states that “we can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life, by adopting us as his children, in his only Son.” The Eucharist plays a pivotal role in this adoption process, as it is through the Eucharistic that humankind participates in the life of Christ and, therefore, in his life as Son. It is through the spiritual worship of the Eucharist that man enters into union with the Son.  He encounters the Logos, made flesh, who has already spoken to man through the Liturgy of the Word. This Logos draws man to himself, in his total sacrifice on the Cross, made present in the Eucharistic Prayer, and into his self-surrender to the Father, in the Holy Spirit.  Thus, in participating in the Eucharist Prayer, and especially in receiving Communion, man receives and enters into the very life of the Son in his filial relationship with the Father. The Son assumed our nature so that we might share in his nature; this is a sign of God’s unfathomable love for us.

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