1. The words of the Lord, I in the Father, and the Father in Me128    St. John xiv. 11., confuse many minds, and not unnaturally, for the powers of human reason cannot provide them with any intelligible meaning. It seems impossible that one object should be both within and without another, or that (since it is laid down that the Beings of whom we are treating, though They do not dwell apart, retain their separate existence and condition) these Beings can reciprocally contain One Another, so that One should permanently envelope, and also be permanently enveloped by, the Other, whom yet He envelopes. This is a problem which the wit of man will never solve, nor will human research ever find an analogy for this condition of Divine existence. But what man cannot understand, God can be. I do not mean to say that the fact that this is an assertion made by God renders it at once intelligible to us. We must think for ourselves, and come to know the meaning of the words, I in the Father, and the Father in Me: but this will depend upon our success in grasping the truth that reasoning based upon Divine verities can establish its conclusions, even though they seem to contradict the laws of the universe.

1. Filium in Patre, et vicissim, sensus humanus non capit.---Affert plerisque obscuritatem sermo Domini, cum dicit: Ego in Patre, et Pater in me (Joan. XIV, 11), et non immerito; natura enim intelligentiae humanae rationem dicti istius non capit. Videtur namque non posse effici, ut quod in altero sit, aeque id ipsum extra alterum sit; et cum necesse sit ea, de quibus agitur, non solitaria sibi esse, numerum ac statum tamen suum, in quo sint, conservantia, non posse se invicem continere, ut qui aliquid aliud intra se habeat, atque ita maneat manensque semper exterior, ei vicissim, quem intra se habeat, maneat aeque semper interior. Haec quidem sensus hominum 0076B non consequetur, nec exemplum aliquod rebus divinis comparatio humana praestabit: sed quod inintelligibile est homini, Deo esse possibile est. Hoc non a me ita dictum sit, ut ad rationem dicti ea tantum sufficiat auctoritas, quod a Deo dictum sit. Cognoscendum itaque atque intelligendum est quid 50 sit illud: Ego in Patre, et Pater in me; si tamen comprehendere hoc ita ut est valebimus: ut quod natura rerum pati non posse existimatur, id divinae veritatis ratio consequatur.