Fr. Mike Schmitz

What is Peter talking about?

He's talking about the fact that

When we are baptized, when we are made into God's adopted sons and daughters, we become partakers of the divine nature, basically become a new creation.

And I mean, we've all heard that we become temples of the Holy Spirit, right?

Of course, we've heard that.

One of the things that means, of course, is that God abides because God's presence abides in his temple.

Another thing it means is that what was the temple for?

It wasn't just for the presence of God to be there.

It was for the place of worship, right?

So if we're temples of the Holy Spirit, it also means that we're meant to be a place of worship.

That's why I believe St.

Paul had said, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and beloved, your spiritual worship, right?

So your body's a temple, not only God's presence, also worship there, but also if you have the

then the Holy Spirit of God is united to you in a unique way that you share in the divine nature.

Now, as a human being, as made in God's image and likeness, you are a beloved creature of God, of course.

But as one who's been baptized, you've been transformed and you actually don't just have a human.

Yes, it's basically God gives you a share in his divine nature.

we're not like Jesus in the sense that Jesus is one divine person with a human and divine nature, but we get to participate, get to share in the divine nature.

The example I always like to give is the example of Pinocchio and Geppetto.

I'm not sure if I used this this year.