Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 29th Sunday of Ordinary time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The sacraments in general are treated by the Catechism of the Catholic Church in at least seven (7) passages. The following is a reflection on article 1996.
Because the ‘sacraments give grace’ it is important for us to consider what grace is. The Hebrew word hen is often translated as “favor” as in “to find favor” and is the Old Testament term for grace (e.g. Genesis 6:8). The Greek word charis, translated more often than not as ‘grace’ occurs more than 170 times in the New Testament and has many meanings such as pleasant external appearance, graciousness, and favor and can is used in contexts of action, mental states, emotions and the like. Dogmatically, grace has been considered under at least six (6) headings: Actual Grace, Sanctifying Grace, Sufficient Grace, Efficacious Grace, Prevenient Grace, Cooperating Grace. The Catechism considers grace under seven (7) aspects:
Grace is the favor of God. This is the hen aspect. God’s favor is upon us in many ways: Creation, Redemption, the providential Divine Governance of space and time come to mind. God pours out His grace and favor upon us, beginning in Holy Baptism and all the other sacraments. God’s grace and favor overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her Immaculate Conception, preserving her from any and every stain of sin, and when she agreed to become the Mother of God at the Annunciation.
Grace is the/Users/markschuster/Desktop/adrationem 20121021.txt gratuitous help given by God. There is nothing we can do to deserve the freely given gift of God’s power and presence in grace. We can and should dispose ourselves to receive the help or grace we need to be the Saints God calls each of us to be.
Grace allows us to respond to God’s call. Without God’s grace we can not be found pleasing in His sight, we can not answer the call to holiness, we can not keep even the smallest part of the Commandments of God. All the graces we need to be holy and pleasing in the sight of God, keeping His Commandments… are at our disposal, especially when received through the sacraments.
Grace makes us become children of God (cf. John 1:12–18). This begins in Holy Baptism and is renewed in the Sacrament of Penance.
God’s grace is at work in our becoming His adopted children, sons and daughters in the one only Son (cf. Romans 8:14–17). Our Heavenly Father feeds us who have been born anew from the font at the Altar with Sacrament of the Eucharist in Holy Communion.
God’s grace makes us participants in the divine nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:3–4). What Jesus is according to His divine nature, God, we share by receiving His divinizing grace. When we receive God’s grace through the sacraments, we are given a share in God’s powerful presence.
God’s grace allows us participation in eternal life, in the here and now even as it prepares us for the hereafter (cf. John 17:3).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr