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"The body of our humiliation" (Phil 3:21):
Historical and Scriptural Notes on Liturgy as an 'End' of the Church

C. Wells

The first part of this essay reflects on Scripture and contemporary circumstances in the Christian Church with an eye to what it may mean to pray under the sign of the cross. I presume at the outset the importance of the modern ecumenical movement, and that the vast literature of this movement deserves our careful attention. My thesis is that one, particular strand of ecumenical thought is especially fruitful as a kind of spiritual curriculum for our present moment (no less than in the past). The thesis is defended in two steps. 1. Not only individual Christians but the Church itself is called to imitate Christ in history, including Christ's exemplary self-emptying or 'kenosis' on our behalf. 2. The Church's very identity depends on this imitation of Christ, to such an extent that God himself actually brings it about-as the apocalyptic or 'unveiled' figure of incorporation into the body of his Son. The second part of the essay is given to practical, liturgical suggestions for how the churches might live more fully-together-into habits of repentance, penance, and amends.