A Complete Catechism of the Catholic Religion/Chap. I. Grace in General
PART III.
ON THE MEANS OF GRACE.
CHAPTER I.
Grace in General.
1. Can we, by our own natural strength, keep the Commandments and be saved?
No; we cannot, without the grace of God.
'Without me you can do nothing,' says Christ (John xv. 5). ' I will put my Spirit in the midst of you, and I will cause you to walk in my commandments' (Ez. xxxvi, 27).
2. What do we understand by the grace of God?
By the grace of God we understand here an internal supernatural help or gift, which God communicates to us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our eternal salvation.
3. How many kinds of this supernatural help and gift, or of ' Grace ' properly so called, are there?
There are two kinds, 1. The grace of assistance, called also actual or transient grace; and 2. The grace of sanctiflcation or justification, called also sanctifying or habitual grace.
The grace of assistance is called actual and transient, because it acts transiently upon the soul, whereas the grace of sanctification or justification remains habitually in the soul, beautifies it, and makes it holy and just in the eyes of God.
§ 1. The Grace of Assistance.
4. In what does Actual Grace, or the Grace of Assistance, consist?
Actual Grace consists in this: that God enlightens our understanding, and inclines our will to avoid evil, and both to will and to do what is good.
'Give me understanding, and I will search Thy law, and I will keep it with my whole heart. . . . Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies,' etc. (Ps. cxviii. 34, 36).
5. How far is the assistance of grace necessary to us?
It is so necessary to us that, without the grace of God, we can neither begin, continue, nor accomplish the least thing towards our salvation.
'For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish' (Philip, ii. 13).
6. Why is grace so indispensable to everything that relates to salvation?
1. Because eternal salvation is a good of a supernatural order, and, consequently, can be obtained only by a supernatural power and help — that is, by grace; 2. Because by grace alone we enter into connection with Christ, and partake of His infinite merits, which are the source of everything that leads to salvation.
1. 'Not that we are sufficient to think anything [conducive to salvation] of ourselves, as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God' (2 Cor. iii. 5). 2, 'I cast not away the grace of God; for if justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain' (Gal. ii. 21); i.e., if the observance of the law alone, without being united by grace with Christ, did justify us, or lead us to eternal salvation, it would not have been necessary for Christ to die in order to merit salvation for us.
By this, however, it is not meant that man is naturally quite incapable of performing any action that is morally good, but only that by such morally good actions as proceed from his naturally good will he can neither merit, nor in any way obtain, grace or salvation; by them he can only prepare himself for grace, in so far as he does not, by bad actions, still increase the obstacles of it. ' No man can come to me, ' says Christ, 'unless it be given him by my Father' (John vi. 66).
7. Does God give His grace to all men?
Yes; God gives to all men sufficient grace to enable them to keep, as they are in duty bound, the Commandments, and to work out their salvation.
'The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost' (Matt, xviii. 11). 'God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim. ii. 4). 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it' (1 Cor. x. 13). 'God does not command impossibilities; but, when commanding, He admonishes us to do what we are able, and to pray for what we are not able to do, and aids us, that we may be able' (Counc. of Trent, Sess. 6, Ch. xiv.).
8. But what must we do on our part, in order that the grace of God may conduce to our salvation?
We must not resist it, but faithfully co-operate with it.
'We exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain' (2 Cor. vi. 1). God stretches forth His hand to save us; if we really wish to be saved, we must take hold of it, and not reject it. — Example of St. Paul: 'I have labored more abundantly than all they; yet not I, but the grace of God with me' (1 Cor. XV. 10).
9. Is it, then, also in our power to resist the grace of God?
Most certainly; for God's grace does not force the human will, but leaves it perfectly free.
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not!' (Matt, xxiii. 37). 'To-day, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts' (Ps. xciv. 8).
Application. Pray daily to God to give you His grace, and take particular care not to close your heart against it. 'Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and -open to me the door, 1 will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me ' (Apoc. iii. 20). In order to make His grace operate the more easily in the human heart, God often connects it with exterior events; as sudden death, diseases, good and bad fortune. Do not heedlessly disregard such divine warnings; for nothing is more dangerous than not to know the time of the visitation of God. — Example: Jerusalem (Luke xix. 44).
§ 2. On the Grace of Sanctification or Justification.
10. What is Sanctifying Grace?
Sanctifying Grace is a gratuitous supernatural gift. which the Holy Ghost communicates to our souls, and by which from sinners we are made just, children of God, and heirs of Heaven.
Together with sanctifying grace ' the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us' (Rom. V. 5). With it God enters into our hearts, according to the words of Jesus: 'If any one love me, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him' (John xiv. 23). Through it we are born again children of God, and our soul receives supernatural life: ' Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God' (1 John iii, 1).
11. Why is sanctifying grace called 'a gratuitous gift'?
Because it is an entirely free gift, flowing from the compassionate love of God.
'For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God; being justified freely [i,e., without their desert] by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. iii. 23, 24).
12. Why is sanctifying grace also called ' Grace of Justification '?
Because by sanctifying grace man is justified — that is, passes from the state of sin to the state of righteousness and holiness.
13. What, then, does the justification of the sinner include?
Justification includes, 1. Cleanness from all grievous sins at least, together with the remission of eternal punishment; and 2. The sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
'You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God' (1 Cor. vi. 11).
14. What first gives rise to the justification of the sinner?
God by grace enlightens the sinner, and excites him to turn to Him.
15. What must the sinner do on his part, in order to attain to justification?
He must, with the assistance of grace, voluntarily turn to God, and believe all that God "has revealed, especially that we are justified by Jesus Christ.
16. What effect has this belief on the sinner?
1. The sinner is struck with a wholesome fear of the justice of God, but hopes to obtain pardon from His mercy;
2. Then he begins to love God, is sorry for his sins, resolves to lead a new life, agreeable to God, and receives the Sacrament of Baptism, or, if he is baptized, the Sacrament of Penance.
17. What does the sinner receive in the Sacrament of Baptism or Penance?
He receives sanctifying grace, and together with it the remission of his sins and interior sanctification, by which he is really made just, acceptable to God, a child of God, and heir of Heaven (Council of Trent, Sess. vi).
18. How long does sanctifying grace remain in the soul of the justified man?
As long as he does not commit mortal sin.
19. What fruits does the justified man produce by the help of grace?
He produces good — i.e., meritorious — works; 'for every good tree bringeth forth good fruit' (Matt. vii. 17).
20. Cannot a man who is in mortal sin do good?
He can do good, but without any merit for Heaven (John XV. 4, 5).
21. Is, then, the good done in mortal sin useless?
No; it is, on the contrary, very useful to obtain from the Divine mercy the grace of conversion,1 sometimes also the averting of temporal punishment.2
1 'Redeem thou thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor: perhaps He will forgive thy offences' (Dan. iv. 24). — Example: Manasses (2 Paral. xxxiii, 12). 2 Achab (3 Kings xxi. 29); the Ninivites.
22. What do we merit by the good works which we perform in the state of grace?
We merit, 1. An increase of sanctifying grace; and 2. Eternal salvation (2 Tim. iv. 8).
'If any one shall say that the justified man by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace and eternal life, let him be anathema' (Council of Trent, Sess. 6, Can. 32).
23. Whence do such good works derive their intrinsic value or meritoriousness?
From the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, whose living members we are through sanctifying grace.
'I am the vine, you are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing' (John xv. 5; comp. Council of Trent, Sess. 6, Ch. 16).
24. Is every Christian bound to do good works?
Yes; for ' every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire ' (Matt. iii. 10).
25. What good works should we perform before all others?
1. Those the performance of which is commanded to all Christians by the Commandments of God and of the Church; and 2. Those which are necessary or useful to fulfil the duties of our state of life.
26. What other good works are especially recommended to us in Holy Scripture?
Prayer, fasting, and alms; by which, in general, are understood the works of devotion, mortification, and charity.
'Prayer is good with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures of gold' (Tob. xii. 8).
27. What does God especially regard in our good works?
Our good intention, by which we may obtain from God great reward even for small works.
'Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward' (Matt. x. 42). — Example of the Poor Widow (Mark xii. 41-44).
28. What is a good intention?
The purpose or positive act of the will to serve God, and to honor Him.
29. How may we make a good intention?
We may say, for instance, thus: 'O my God, I offer up to Thee all my thoughts, words, and deeds, for Thy honor and glory'; or: 'My Lord and my God, all for Thy honor.'
30. When should we make a good intention?
It is very useful to make it several times a day, and especially every morning,
31. What means must we particularly use in order to obtain grace?
The Holy Sacraments and Prayer.
32. Do both these means give us grace in the same manner and in the same measure?
No; for, 1. The Sacraments produce grace in us; Prayer obtains it for us; 2. Through the Sacraments we obtain those special graces for which they were instituted; but through Prayer we receive all sorts of graces, except those which can be obtained only by the Sacraments.
Application. Strive most carefully to preserve sanctifying grace continually in your heart by avoiding sin and performing good works. ' A man making void the law of Moses dieth without any mercy under two or three witnesses: how much more, do you think, he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean by which he was sanctified, and hath offered an affront to the Spirit of grace?' (Hebr. x. 28, 29).