THE NECESSITY OF GRACE FOR SALVATION


SATURDAY, TWENTY NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Rom 8:1-11; Ps 24:1-6; Lk 13:1-9

The Cost of Ignoring Grace of Jesus Christ

Grace is the presence of God with us to accomplish his holy will. We have repeatedly stated this very important truth, that it may sink deeply into us. It is a central truth of our salvation because not understanding the presence of God with us exposes us to the manipulations and snares of demons and evil people. However, knowing the signs that indicate the presence of God with us helps us to attend to His presence and be secure in our willing and doings. To live in the regime of grace is to be aware of the presence of Jesus Christ with us always. His presence is no longer given to the senses, but in mysteries. But every event and circumstance of our lives is an indicator or a sign of his abiding presence. The awareness of his presence is prayer and characterises the interior life for us. Our continuous struggle to be aware of this presence is the struggle for genuine prayer. We are strong against the devil and his minions in the world when we cultivate awareness of God’s presence and remain open to the signs of his presence with us. The first strategy of our enemies is to make us dwell without rather than within; that is, to remain prayerless through the day. When they succeed in cutting us from our root, or source of grace, our spiritual life or prayer withers away with time. Everything we do henceforth is condemnable because it is not inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore lacks the grace of God.

For our actions to have spiritual merits, they must originate from God alone, and we do them to fulfil his holy will. Graceful actions are those we do in cooperation with the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. Saint Paul, therefore, explains that those in Jesus Christ are not condemned because they act according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. “The reason why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned is that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” We are set free through believing that the death Christ died on the cross was our death. So, our life now belongs to him. If we truly believe this, then we should live with our eyes fixed on him, with the intention of carrying out his will. The implication is that we live a spiritual life. “The unspiritual are interested only in what is unspiritual, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things. It is death to limit oneself to what is unspiritual; life and peace can only come with concern for the spiritual.” The Holy Spirit resides deep within us by the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Only our spirits have a direct and immediate connection with Him. Hence, to draw our life and inspirations from him, we must live through our spirit, which is the most interior part of our being. This makes the spiritual journey an uphill task, for we are prone to external life. “Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things.”

The coming of the Son of Man inaugurated the regime of grace. The meaning of living in the regime of grace is the superabundance of God’s grace for everyone to accomplish God’s will and plan for him or her. We are saved by knowing the will of God and doing it, which is the meaning of grace. To do otherwise is to live in enmity with God. Hence, our Lord warns that anyone lacking the attention and interest in doing the will of God will perish. “At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.” He repeated the warning with respect to those who died accidentally, crushed by the tower at Siloam. Grave words indeed, but perfectly understandable given our insight into the meaning of grace, as we have reflected during the week. Grace is the presence of God with us to accomplish his divine and immutable will. To ignore grace is to ignore God’s presence and eternal life, which is damnation. The parable of our Lord expresses divine sentiment on this all-important issue of grace. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?’” The caretaker’s plea gained the fig tree an extra year. We have the year of our Lord’s grace to bear fruit or perish.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.               

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BECOMING A DEPENDABLE FRIEND

Image
FRIDAY, SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eccl 6:5-17; Ps 119:12,16,18,27,34-35; Mk 10:1-12 Making and being a Good Friend The usefulness of a faithful friend is the subject discussed in the passage of Sirach we are considering. From the qualities that make a good friend, we understand that faithfulness depends on the perfection we attain in the formative school of wisdom. The first lesson we learn in nature is faithfulness. The quality of faithfulness is so closely aligned with nature that we consider nature and faithfulness synonyms. The faithfulness of nature, and subsequently of wisdom, is hinted at when we read that wisdom stands at her post/gate daily to beckon the passers-by to turn in and partake of her table. Everything that God made participates in this faithfulness of wisdom in the sense that each remains faithful to his will without failing or leading our minds astray. First, Sirach admonishes us on friendliness to people in general: “A kindly turn of speech multiplies a ...
Read more

WE CANNOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT FAITH

Image
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP  Isa 7:1-9; Ps 48:2-8; Mt 11:20-24 If you do not stand by Me, you will not stand at all The Lord Jesus Christ takes up the issue of rejecting or ignoring the Gospel message when it comes to us in the gospel reading today. The word of God contains all the blessings of heaven which God had given us in Christ before the beginning of the world. Hence, a rejection or refusal to accept or listen to the Gospel message is a rejection of all the heavenly blessings we have received in Jesus Christ. These divine blessings have import for our lives here on earth. While still dwelling here on earth, those who believe in the word of God already possess the heavenly inheritance God will fully manifest to us when we exit this mortal tent. By faith, we enter into the eternal kingdom and the promised inheritance. The importance of faith for our reception of the heavenly blessings here on earth is illustrated in the first reading...
Read more

The offsprings of the Old man and the New Man

Image
Monday, fifth week of lent/2024 Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Offsprings of Old man and New Man To be able to live the new life within the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, the old life must come to an end. The distinctive difference between the old man and the new man is the focus of desires. The old man and all who live by him have their desires focussed on the satisfaction of self. On the other hand, the new man and those living by him desires only to fulfil God's holy will. Thus, the old man and his offspring obey the law of sin and death. Living for self alone breeds sins, and sin causes death. So, the old man and all living by him are dead and harbingers of death to others. They are adept at manipulating the Law of God to perpetuate their interest and selfish desires. An example of this skill is the treatment the two old judges of Israel in Babylon meted out to Susanna, wife of Joachim, employing the Law of Moses as given in the first reading. “Two elderly men had ...
Read more