“… It’s also a thought that changed the world.” – U2 – from the song “Grace”

What is grace exactly?

• Is it just the name of a girl?
• Is it just a “thought” that changed the world?
• Is it just a term to describe a beautiful dancer who seems to perform without effort or flaw?
• Is it just something we say before a meal?
• Is it some ethereal notion of a cosmic force that feels good?
• Is grace just some thing we Christians like to think of when things are going good and complain about when things are going bad? “God says his grace will be sufficient, but this is just too hard for me…”
• Is grace just something received once in awhile through prayer or Sacrament only to be lost somewhere between the pew and the parking lot?

In truth grace may be some of these things – but it is so much more. We relegate grace to some romantic notion that we pull out when it suits us but in truth grace is a power beyond measure. Grace is something far beyond feeling and sentiment. Grace is more than some “thought” or new-age notion.

In the eyes of the Church grace is the reaching down of God’s love into our lives. Grace is God’s life poured out from heaven. Grace is effacacious – in that it has the ability heal, forgive, bring peace, bind together, strengthen, and so much more. When grace is at hand there are no mountains that will not move. When grace is received there are truly no obstacles too impossible.

In the Church we find grace poured out in the seven Sacraments. This grace is the most powerful kind because it is the physical, tangible touching of heaven and earth. God’s life literally enters into our life.

I often wonder what our lives as Catholics would be like if we only learned to call on the grace received in the Sacraments and bring it into our daily lives. As marriages struggle and fail I think of that Sacramental grace received into the lives of the couple – if only Catholic couples would rely on that grace to get them through the difficult times.

There truly is no mountain that will not move when grace is at hand – which means that the mountains of frustration in any marriage can be overcome. It is the same in all areas of our life. God’s Grace is poured out through the Church and through his goodness in every area of our lives. From our daily living, to our darkest nights of sin, to our marriages, to our illness, even unto death.

The power behind grace is incredibly awe-inspiring. Yet, we have relegated it to a thought, a feeling of peace and tranquility, a description of beautiful dancing – in many cases it truly is just the name of a girl.

Yet, grace is so powerful, so important, so awe-inspiring that an angel came from heaven to earth to announce to a girl that she was full of it – grace that is. Because of her ‘fullness of grace” she was capable of being the vessel through which the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

If Mary was “full of grace” and carried God’s own son – imagine what you and I could do for God if we were just twenty percent full of grace? Imagine just what we could do for God if we just let a little more of his grace into our lives – and then learned to call upon that grace through our daily struggles, and in our dealings with others.

Grace is more than a thought – but it has, can, and will change the world.

9 Days to Living Gracefully Email Series

This is why I’ve decided to begin the “9 Days to Living Gracefully” email series. Because I truly believe that God is calling on us to be saints and to live in his grace that we might bring him into the world.

I want to invite you to join me for the next 9 Days as we pray, and reflect on how to “live gracefully”. Can you imagine what our world would look like if just 100 Catholics joined us on this 9 Day journey – allowing more of God’s grace in their lives?

The series will begin on Wednesday July 29th so sign up today!

Join me by signing up in the box below. To make it even more fruitful for you I encourage you to invite your spouse, friends, co-workers, Bible study group or the like to join you.

If you would like to find out more about the 9 Days series and what all it entails you can read “9 Days to Living Gracefully” for a good description.

 

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