What is grace, and how do we receive it?
Catechism Meditation:
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. ―No. 1996
REFLECTION. Grace, in the Catholic understanding, is the supernatural gift that God gives to humanity out of love. It is not something earned or deserved but is freely offered to all. It enables people to participate in divine life and achieve salvation. The Catholic Church teaches that grace comes primarily through the sacraments, though it is not limited to them. There are different types of grace, such as sanctifying grace and actual grace, each serving a distinct purpose. Human cooperation with grace is necessary, as it respects free will while drawing individuals closer to God. This understanding shapes Catholic teachings on sin, redemption, and the Christian life. St. Paul said, “For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:17).
In his reflection from the book, Praying With Saint Paul: The Abundance of Grace, Fr. Joseph T. Lienhard wrote: One of the most important concepts that Saint Paul has given us is “grace.” In its root meaning, the word grace indicates something that delights. A graceful person, such as a dancer or an athlete, is pleasing to the eye and to the sense of beauty. The word grace also came to designate the favor that a ruler might show to his subjects. The Old Testament speaks often of God’s graciousness. In the New Testament, St. Paul uses the word grace to describe the event of salvation, by which he means that God makes us glad by his gifts to us, gifts that he gives freely and that we do not merit. When all this background is summed up, we come to an important insight about grace.
We cannot simply make ourselves graceful dancers or skilled athletes by sheer power of will, and we surely cannot make ourselves beautiful or handsome. In the same way, grace comes from God, not from us. God’s basic gift to us is saving grace, the grace by which we are delivered from bondage of sin and made pleasing to God, by no merit of our own. But we also speak of other kinds of grace, like sacramental grace, bestowed by baptism, the Eucharist, reconciliation, and other sacraments. We speak of the grace of vocation, which helps us exercise our responsibilities as Christians. Sanctifying grace is an abiding gift, which enables us to live in God and act by his love. Actual graces are God’s occasional interventions, which help us to do what is right and good at the moment of choice or decision. The verse from Saint Paul that we are pondering finally says it all, and says it best: through one man, Jesus Christ, we receive abundance of grace unto the fullness of life.
PRAYER. Gracious God, giver of all gifts, hear us, we ask you: by the power of your grace, deliver us from sin and preserve us in your faithful service.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“Grace does not work like a penny in a slot machine. Grace will move you only when you want it to move you, and only when you let it move you. The supernatural order supposes the freedom of the natural order, but it does not destroy it.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen