THIS essay is not about
letter-writing or a certain type
of distance learning, though I must say that what I have in mind must
be the original from which these activities sprung.
I am referring to our constant correspondence to grace,
actually a duty that we have to be more aware of and more adept in.
It’s actually a most indispensable duty without which Christian life
would practically be a sham, no matter how colorfully and dramatically
we show our Christianity.
The basis for this duty is the truth that we are God’s
creatures who have been endowed with the dignity of being his children
also, sharers in his divine life.
God is not content with creating us only. He made us very
special, making us in his very image and likeness, the masterpiece of
all his creation. This he did by giving us a spiritual nature, with
our intelligence and will, that allows us to receive supernatural
grace, that in turn elevates us above our nature to be able to
participate in his life.
God’s sharing his life with us is a permanent feature of
our relationship, whether we are aware of it or not. This can only be
broken in hell, when by our own sins we produce an irremediable
rupture from him.
This point is worth reiterating, since a common thinking
is that while it may be true that God created us, he already left us
to be on our own after our creation. This thinking is called in
philosophical circles as Deism.
Just to be direct about it, my simple dictionary describes
Deism as “the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the
universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life,
exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural
revelation.”
Though not professed formally, it is in fact the attitude
many of us have. Many of us are Deists, if not formally then
informally. And this has to be corrected, precisely because it is
wrong.
God’s relationship with us does not stop with creating us.
While God continues to be present in all his creatures, he is
especially present in us, and in fact he shares what he has with us.
This is what our faith teaches. After considering that the
Son of God became man, called Jesus Christ, and that he offered his
life for us, and through the Church and the sacraments remains with us
and continues his redemptive work in the Holy Spirit—all this could
only mean that he so loves so much that he wants to share what he us
with us.
We need to go back to this truth many times, to relish it
and to engrave it more deeply in our heart so that it can truly shape
the way we think, speak and ac. In other words, so that it can truly
shape our life.
We can presume that God never stops prompting us with his
grace, precisely to share his life with us. But he does not impose
himself on us. He waits for us to correspond to his grace freely.
The problem is that we most of the time ignore these
uninterrupted promptings. We forget him, put him at the sidelines, and
use him only as some kind of ornament.
Correspondence to grace is our effort to do our part in
this relationship of love between God and us. It is supposed to be an
existential relationship, lived moment to moment. We are not meant to
be alone. We are meant to be with God always, and also with everyone
else through him.
Thus, our intelligence and will, our spiritual faculties
that open us the possibility of being elevated to share in God’s life,
should be properly focused. Their main and constant object is God, not
just anything we want to know and will.
Using our intelligence and will to pursue only our own
personal goals would be an abuse of these faculties, and sooner or
later, disastrous consequences would start appearing.
This is the common sickness we have at the moment, so
common that it looks like the normal thing to have. Unless focused on
God, our faculties cannot resist the lures of what are known as the
capital sins: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
We always need to correspond to God’s grace to the point
that we can echo what our Lord once said: “I always do what pleases
him (his Father).” (Jn 8,29) That should be our attitude always.
of distance learning, though I must say that what I have in mind must
be the original from which these activities sprung.
I am referring to our constant correspondence to grace,
actually a duty that we have to be more aware of and more adept in.
It’s actually a most indispensable duty without which Christian life
would practically be a sham, no matter how colorfully and dramatically
we show our Christianity.
The basis for this duty is the truth that we are God’s
creatures who have been endowed with the dignity of being his children
also, sharers in his divine life.
God is not content with creating us only. He made us very
special, making us in his very image and likeness, the masterpiece of
all his creation. This he did by giving us a spiritual nature, with
our intelligence and will, that allows us to receive supernatural
grace, that in turn elevates us above our nature to be able to
participate in his life.
God’s sharing his life with us is a permanent feature of
our relationship, whether we are aware of it or not. This can only be
broken in hell, when by our own sins we produce an irremediable
rupture from him.
This point is worth reiterating, since a common thinking
is that while it may be true that God created us, he already left us
to be on our own after our creation. This thinking is called in
philosophical circles as Deism.
Just to be direct about it, my simple dictionary describes
Deism as “the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the
universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life,
exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural
revelation.”
Though not professed formally, it is in fact the attitude
many of us have. Many of us are Deists, if not formally then
informally. And this has to be corrected, precisely because it is
wrong.
God’s relationship with us does not stop with creating us.
While God continues to be present in all his creatures, he is
especially present in us, and in fact he shares what he has with us.
This is what our faith teaches. After considering that the
Son of God became man, called Jesus Christ, and that he offered his
life for us, and through the Church and the sacraments remains with us
and continues his redemptive work in the Holy Spirit—all this could
only mean that he so loves so much that he wants to share what he us
with us.
We need to go back to this truth many times, to relish it
and to engrave it more deeply in our heart so that it can truly shape
the way we think, speak and ac. In other words, so that it can truly
shape our life.
We can presume that God never stops prompting us with his
grace, precisely to share his life with us. But he does not impose
himself on us. He waits for us to correspond to his grace freely.
The problem is that we most of the time ignore these
uninterrupted promptings. We forget him, put him at the sidelines, and
use him only as some kind of ornament.
Correspondence to grace is our effort to do our part in
this relationship of love between God and us. It is supposed to be an
existential relationship, lived moment to moment. We are not meant to
be alone. We are meant to be with God always, and also with everyone
else through him.
Thus, our intelligence and will, our spiritual faculties
that open us the possibility of being elevated to share in God’s life,
should be properly focused. Their main and constant object is God, not
just anything we want to know and will.
Using our intelligence and will to pursue only our own
personal goals would be an abuse of these faculties, and sooner or
later, disastrous consequences would start appearing.
This is the common sickness we have at the moment, so
common that it looks like the normal thing to have. Unless focused on
God, our faculties cannot resist the lures of what are known as the
capital sins: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
We always need to correspond to God’s grace to the point
that we can echo what our Lord once said: “I always do what pleases
him (his Father).” (Jn 8,29) That should be our attitude always.
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