We Are Logoi in the Logos: Rooted in the Living Word

The concept of Logoi in the Logos invites us to see ourselves as unique words of God, spoken through Christ, the eternal Word, and called to live in harmony with his divine will.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

Luke 6:46-49

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Wholehearted Listening

Who comes to mind when you picture someone who hears God’s words and acts on them? I think immediately of Abraham, the founding patriarch of the Hebrews, who walked with God into the unknown darkness of wilderness and uncertainty, not knowing where he was going, but certain of God’s unwavering promise. Had he only listened to God’s words but remained comfortably at home in Ur of the Chaldees, surrounded by family, friends, and property, God could not have fulfilled his promise to make him the father of a multitude of nations.

Listening demands action; the two are inseparable. A person in synergy with God moves with the Holy Spirit with agility and docility—zero resistance. We find our best model in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who assumed our humanity and lived a perfect earthly life in union with his Father. From the joy of a wedding feast to the agony of the Cross, Jesus offered his whole person uniting his divinity and humanity to fulfill his Father’s call.

We Are Logoi in the Logos

Opposite the listener is the speaker, the source of the word. Christ, the Father’s Word, consummates his Father’s will without ceasing. Fully alive and active, he is the Logos of God:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.

John 1:1-3

Now, every human person made in the image of Christ is also a word, or logos, spoken by the Father through his Son. Originating as words (logoi) in the mind of the Father “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4), we are destined with all creation to enter into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity (Catechism of the Catholic Church 260). As mirrors of the Word made flesh, may we become living logoi, fulfilling the Father’s will by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

Journey of the Logoi in the Logos

Listen, logoi, to the Word,
That by God you may be stirred
To leave, like Abe, his homeland
In Ur, heeding God’s command
To father many nations
Through sequent generations
Till the birth of Abba’s Word
In Mary, who Gabriel heard 
And responded with her “Yes!”
Allowing the Lord to bless
The world with our salvation
Through the Word’s Incarnation.
As logoi in the Logos,
May we journey through his Cross,
One with him on Calvary’s hill,
Fulfilling the Father’s will.

Traditional Chinese Translation

《我們是道中之道：扎根於永生之道》
身為道中的道，
願我們穿越祂的十字架，
與祂同在各各他山上，
成就天父的旨意。