Conforming does not mean an external imitation but it expresses the essence of belonging to Christ, as “to be conformed to the image” (Rom 8:29) of the Son. Meanwhile tradition uses the expression Imitatio Christi, “Imitation of Christ” for what we call here conforming, it is not meant to be () a slavish copying Jesus’ words or deeds (nor) a sort of moralizing based on Jesus’ example. - Step by Step Retreats
If reforming is the act of allowing God to remove from our lives the outright sin that has deformed us, conforming must be a matter of embracing Jesus fully, with all of his radical implications in our lives. I'm not sure the degree to which this is a matter of B following A. Perhaps the two processes end up working back and forth between each other over the course of a lifetime.
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"- Mt 27, 28-29
Sometimes I forget to think about the sort of King I am following, and what it means to conform to him. It is no accident that we have two consecutive sessions in this step that are taken from accounts of Jesus' Passion. This is how Jesus has won his kingdom to himself, how he defends it from attack, how he tends to his subjects' deepest needs. Even when we are rejecting and mocking him, his love is at work to redeem, reform and conform our lives.
It can feel like a discontinuity to reflect on these things in the season of Advent. But I think it is good, as we seek a fuller coming of Christ into our lives by conforming to him, to remember why he came in the first place, and how he establishes the kingdom that we desire to enter more fully, and what is the means of our participation in that kingdom - or, in another sense, what it means for us to be his conformed subjects.
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