My wife, Nathalie, and I welcomed our first child, Gabriel Michael Shultz, into the world on April 4th. As I write this we are in the throes of Gabe finding his personality, watching him grow every day, sleep deprivation, and all the highs and lows that come with this absolutely beautiful blessing of new life.
Of course, as Catholics, one of the milestones in the Christian life is the sacrament of baptism, which we were able to celebrate last weekend. Father Adams, who also was the witness to our wedding, gave a wonderful reflection about what it means to be a child of God. He asked a few simple questions to the congregation that I want to ask you to reflect on today. When you are a child of a dog, what are you? You’re a dog. When you are a child of a giraffe, what are you? You’re a giraffe. When you are a child of a mongoose, what are you? You’re a mongoose. When you are a child of God, what are you?
It’s an interesting question to reflect on isn’t it? Naturally we want to say God but then we feel weird that we might be heretical in speaking about a human person as God. The Catechism, however, doesn’t have a problem with this strong language, in fact, it’s kind of the basis of our faith. What I am talking about is the idea of divinization, where we participate in the divine nature of God. If this all seems strange or foreign to you, the Catechism affirms it in saying, “The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’: ‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’ ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.’ ‘The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.'” -CCC 460
This process of divinization starts here on this earth, specifically through the sacraments, and continues on until we receive the full participation of the divine life in heaven. We got to witness our son on Sunday beginning this process. His smile immediately after the water was poured said it all, that he is a child of God and that his destiny, same as yours and mine, is to participate fully and completely in the divinity of God himself.
So, of course, we all know that baptism makes us children of God, but what is next? How do we continue in this process of divinization here on this earth? We see the answer in today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us that, “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”
The sacraments are the physical signs of God’s love that are so real they literally infuse us with God himself. This should be the teaching we are shouting from the rooftops. If we want more people in the Church, let’s bring them in by sharing the truth that all of this exists in order that we might become partakers in the divine life. We saw it with our own eyes this past weekend. I encourage you to look up the date of your baptism and celebrate this date every year with your family and friends as a sign of what God is doing in your life and how he became man so that you might become God.
From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!
Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”
Feature Image Credit: Christian Bowen, https://unsplash.com/photos/I0ItPtIsVEE
Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at 
Christine Hanus is a thwarted idealist who, nevertheless, lives quite happily in Upstate NY. She is a wife and mother of five grown children.
Arthur Richardson is married to his wonderful wife, Gabby Richardson. Most of his work experience is in ministry. He was a retreat missionary in Wisconsin for two years and a youth minister for three years. He is now the Web Project Manager here at Diocesan, and loves it!
Elizabeth Tomlin is the author of Joyful Momentum: Building and Sustaining Vibrant Women’s Groups and contributing author to the Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers. She is General Counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Elizabeth is an Army wife and mother of three and currently lives in the DC area. She blogs at 
Dr. Alexis Dallara-Marsh is a board-certified neurologist who practices in Bergen County, NJ. She is a wife to her best friend, Akeem, and a mother of two little ones on Earth and two others in heaven above.
Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title
Susan Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, with an MA in liberal studies from Indiana University. For the past 17 years, she has worked as a professional editor and writer, editing both fiction and nonfiction books, magazine articles, blogs, educational lessons, professional materials and website content. Eleven of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently Susan freelances and writes weekly for HLI, edits for American Life League, and is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine. She also serves as executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program-an educational nonprofit program for K-12 students.
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 50 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Mike Karpus is a regular guy. He grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, graduated from Michigan State University and works as an editor. He is married to a Catholic school principal, raised two daughters who became Catholic school teachers at points in their careers, and now relishes his two grandchildren, including the 3-year-old who teaches him what the colors of Father’s chasubles mean. He has served on a Catholic School board, a pastoral council and a parish stewardship committee. He currently is a lector at Mass, a Knight of Columbus, Adult Faith Formation Committee member and a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity organization. But mostly he’s a regular guy.
Kate Taliaferro is an Air Force wife and mother. She is blessed to be able to homeschool, bake bread and fold endless piles of laundry. When not planning a school day, writing a blog post or cooking pasta, Kate can be found curled up with a book or working with some kind of fiber craft. Kate blogs at 
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