It may seem an impertinence to say so, but Pope Leo the Great seems to think so
Catholics are used to the idea that Our Lady is higher than the angels, but is it true for the rest of us? Here is what Pope Leo the Great has to say on the matter. It was surprising to me.
‘The blessed apostles together with all the others had been intimidated by the catastrophe of the cross, and their faith in the resurrection had been uncertain; but now they were so strengthened by the evident truth that when their Lord ascended into heaven, far from feeling any sadness, they were filled with great joy. Indeed that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw man’s nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son.’ [Excerpt from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great (Sermo 1 de Ascensione, 2-4: PL 54, 305-396) taken from the Office of Readings for Wednesday of the Sixth week of Easter]
If I am understanding this correctly then he is say we can be by grace at our final end in heaven be raised up as high as it possible to be, seated next to the Son, participating in mystery of the Trinity. The Ascension of the Lord was a sign that man’s nature is to divine, although he cannot realise this by his own efforts, hence the need for God’s grace. This is an extraordinary privilege.
St. Maximos the Confessor described this as a “total participation in Jesus Christ.” and said ”A sure warrant for looking forward with hope to deification of human nature is provided by the incarnation of God, which makes man god to the same degree as God himself became man…. Let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may consort with God and become gods, receiving from God our existence as gods. For it is clear that He who became man without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15) will divinize human nature without changing it into the divine nature, and will raise it up for his own sake to the same degree as He lowered himself for man’s sake.’ (page 178 in the Philokalia, Vol II).
He also said that we will be “All that God is, except for an identity in being, one becomes when one is deified by grace.”
The one question that remains, then for us to think that we can be greater than the angels is this – is the same privilege offered to the angels too? If not, then it seems that we are by nature, greater than the angels (although in are fallen state in this life we are less than them!).
Comments from expert theologians please!
Is there room on that seat there for 6 billion more? The answer may well be yes! Christ is is seated in majesty, centre, ‘at the right hand’ of the Father.
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I think the below Homily, which is given in the Office of Readings, shows the particular ‘Beauty’ of the story of Salvation…
From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday
The Lord’s descent into the underworld
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
I have found it useful to ponder what about our nature makes us potentially higher than the angels. It has something to do with out incompleteness. Incompleteness implies potential to become something else, something higher, more complete. An angel is by this argument already complete. An angel has no where to go, nothing else to become. Human nature must include a somewhere else to go, a something more to become. It is indicated that this something else is higher than the angels. Or is it simply the possibility itself, to become something else, places a creature with potentials above those of angels. Can anything else but man become something else?
I don’t know of anything – perhaps someone who is more of an expert in this area can help. This point about human nature allowing for the raising of man to something higher is one that involves some discussion still as I understand it. Perhaps you are already aware of this, but I found the Mystery of the Supernatural by Henri de Lubac has the case for saying that man is, by nature, made with a potential that cannot be realised except through grace, ie through supernatural means. Some think that this is a contradiction because it blurs the distinction between the natural and the supernatural.
Thanks for the book suggestion – I just ordered it.