Amazing Grace, how sweet the Sacrament

After Mass earlier this week, I was talking to a friend and in our conversation he said that one of the problems with us Catholics is that we don’t talk enough about grace. I think that he is right. Of course, that’s not to say that grace doesn’t exist in the Catholic faith. I think that the problem arises from the fact that as Catholics we are so surrounded by grace that we sometimes just don’t get it.

God’s grace is the very lifeblood of our Catholic faith, and because it is so abundant, we tend to take it for granted – not unlike the air that we breathe every second of every day. In fact, that is one of the things that is so amazing about being Catholic – we are constantly breathing God’s grace.

I was reminded of this last night when I attended the Confirmation Mass last night. It was a special Mass because all the kids from the various Catholic schools in the parish were being confirmed. To my shame, as I sat there watching them being confirmed I actually thought to myself “I wonder how many of these kids are just ‘getting done’? How many of them are actually being taught their faith by their parents? How many of them will grow up to be faithful Catholics? Why does the Catholic Church carry out baptisms and confirmations for so many people who are really not that serious about the call to be Christ’s disciples?”

As I was in the process of thinking these thoughts, God convicted me...and touched me by His grace so that I was able to see things from a different perspective – from His perspective.

While I was being so critical (and hypocritical), God reminded me that He was at that very moment pouring out His grace upon those young people in the Sacrament of Confirmation. After that, we all were able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion – the Ultimate means by which God shares His grace, even more His Divine Life, with us.

I then realised how wrong I had been and had to repent of my judgmentalism. Although Jesus said that there would be both wheat and tares in His Kingdom (Matt 13:24ff), it isn’t for me to judge who are which.

Besides this, I was also reminded that if God is able to turn water into wine; if He is able to turn bread and wine into His Body and Blood; then we should never doubt that He is also able to turn tares into wheat by the grace available in the Sacraments.

Cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb

One of the things that I really love about Sacred Scripture is the fact that you can often read any given passage 100 times over, and upon reading it the for the 101^st time you can suddenly gain a completely fresh perspective.

Earlier this week, I was really blessed in this way in my reading of the first chapter of St. John’s First Epistle. As I was reading, I was struck by just how Catholic this Epistle is in its doctrine e.g. the requirement of unity with Apostolic Tradition (and by implication Apostolic Succession); or how being cleansed by the blood of Jesus ties in with the necessity of walking in holiness (as opposed to Martin Luther’s doctrine of being saved by faith ALONE) .

This really got me on the track of taking a step back and trying to read the Epistle from a fresh perspective. Rather than simply reading the passage the way I had always understood it, I decided to try to read it more through the eyes of the Holy Catholic Church.

[I know, you are probably thinking “Why didn’t you do that in the first place? After all, it was the Church that gave us these Scriptures”. My only defence is that old habits die hard].

So I started reading 1 John 1 again...and again...and again...But this time I tried to read it as a Catholic. And as I read, verse 7 just kept jumping out at me. Then it hit me...like a big ten foot truck...

So, I trust that you will allow me to take the wheel of said truck and hopefully share with you what I found...

1 Jn 1:7 says:

“...but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Before becoming Catholic I had always thought of being cleansed by the blood of Jesus as a purely figurative and symbolic thing. But this is only half the truth. God created us body AND soul – so His redeeming of us is a body AND soul affair. This is the heart of Catholic Sacramental theology i.e. God doesn’t just deal with us as spiritual beings; He deals with us as physical AND spiritual beings.

In understanding this, we come to see that being washed by the blood of Jesus is more than just a figurative notion – there is also something tangible that God gives us as the means by which He accomplishes this grace in our lives.

The most obvious way that this happens is through the waters of baptism – what St. Paul called the “washing of water by the word” or the “water of rebirth” (see Eph 5:26, Tit 3:5, cf Jn 3:5). Elsewhere, the Scriptures speak about the various baptisms (washings / cleansings) of the Old Testament which were carried out by the sprinkling of the blood of calves and goats on the people (see Heb 9). The difference now, Hebrews tells us, is that we are no longer cleansed by the blood of goats and calves, but we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 9:12-14). In other words, the Old Covenant baptisms (by sprinkling of animal blood) have been replaced by Baptism in the New Covenant whereby we are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.

But, it goes even deeper than this. Baptism is only the beginning of our being cleansed by the blood of Jesus. The Catechism teaches us that:

Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins” – CCC # 1393

After reading 1 Jn 1:7 over and over again, I believe that this is what St. John is ultimately getting at. In fact, the only two places in the New Testament where the Greek words for “fellowship” (koinonia) and “blood” (aima) occur together is here, in 1 Jn 1:7, and in 1 Cor 10:16, which says:

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion [or “fellowship”] of the blood of Christ?”

So, what I came to realise as I meditated upon this passage is that what St. John is calling us to is is holiness of life, so that we can worthily participate in Holy Communion which not only unites us in common fellowship with each other [see here for more on this], but also accomplishes within us the forgiveness of our sins.

And so I submit to you this “fresh” Catholic perspective of 1 Jn 1:7...a verse that is so intensely Catholic that it goes to the very “source and summit” of our faith – the Lord Jesus Christ present in the Blessed Eucharist.

One Fold; One Shepherd

In our journey to the Catholic Church our family had been through five Christian denominational changes before entering the Catholic Church. And in this process, we hadn’t even begun to touch the tip of the iceberg that is the crisis of disunity in Christianity – particularly in Protestant Christianity. And that’s because there are more than 30,000 different Protestant denominations in existence [which is probably a conservative number given that splits and divisions continue to occur within Protestantism].

The antidote to this poison of division of that exists within Christianity today can be found in the Gospel reading for today (4^th Sunday of Easter, Year B):

                Jesus said:
                "I am the good shepherd.
                A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
                A hired man, who is not a shepherd
                and whose sheep are not his own,
                sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
                and the wolf catches and scatters them.
                This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the
                sheep. I am the good shepherd,
                and I know mine and mine know me,
                just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
                and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
                I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
                These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
                and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
                This is why the Father loves me,
                because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
                No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
                I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
                This command I have received from my Father." (Jn 10:11-18)

In the middle of this passage Jesus tells His disciples that part of His mission as the Good Shepherd was to lead the “sheep that do not belong to this fold” into His flock. This is a reference to the Gentiles, who up until this point were not included as part of God’s covenant people – Israel. Elsewhere in the New Testament, St. Paul tells us that in Christ the wall of division that existed between Jew and Gentile was torn down; and so in Him, we are ALL part of the one true Israel of God – the Church (see Gal 6:16).

What is interesting to note here is that Jesus makes reference to only ONE flock; and to emphasise the point, He ties this aspect of unity with His very own Person – “there will be ONE flock, ONE shepherd”. In putting it this way, Jesus is telling us that His flock is inseparably connected with Himself – a theme that St. Paul picks up on when He refers to the Church as nothing less than the Body of Christ.

But what does this unity entail? Is it some kind of abstract thought that only exists ethereally in the vacuum of a pipe dream? Not at all! Echoing our Lord’s words that there is only ONE shepherd, St. Paul tells us that there is only ONE Lord. For St. Paul, the fact that there is only one Lord logically means that there is only ONE faith, and only ONE baptism (Eph 4:5). Based on this fact alone, it is evident that what the Protestant Reformation gave birth to is far from what the Lord Jesus Christ established when He established His Church.

Rather, in establishing His Church, Jesus ordained Twelve Apostles as the fulfilment of the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (cf. Rev21:12, 14). As part of this process He gave St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 16:18-19) and in doing so bestowed upon him the authority to act as the Prime Minister of the King of kings (Isa 22:22) – aka the Vicar of Christ. Moreover, as the Good Shepherd, Jesus appointed St. Peter as His chief shepherd when He entrusted him with the threefold commission to feed His sheep (Jn 21:15-17).

So, just as Jesus linked the unity of His Church with His own Person; so too He linked St. Peter’s authority with His own authority. So, when Jesus said that His sheep would know Him and hear His voice, part of what this means is that Christ’s sheep would faithfully follow St. Peter, and with him the college of Apostles, as the ones to whom He imparted His authority on earth.  Our Lord emphasised this elsewhere when He said “Whoever listens to you, listens to me” (Lk 10:16). This Apostolic authority would be passed on to the successors of the Apostles (i.e. the Bishops) by virtue of the nature of the Apostolic office and the continuing mission of the Church on earth.

This unity of the sheepfold that Jesus talks about is evident only in the Catholic Church. And as Catholics, it is our duty (as St. Paul tells us in Eph 4:3) to maintain the unity that has already been established by Christ. We don’t do this in our own strength. Rather, we do it in the strength and grace that Christ gives us through the Sacraments.

This is something else that Jesus alludes to in the Gospel reading when He tells us that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His Life for the sheep. If you read the passage again, you may note that it is through the laying down of His life that He will bring all the sheep into the one fold. This is an obvious reference to Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary. But Christ’s Sacrifice was not just an event that occurred 2,000 years ago. It is also an event that is made present to us every single time the Eucharist is celebrated. When we come together for Holy Mass, we are not only remembering what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago – we are participating in something far greater than that. What we are taking part in is God making present for us today the once-for-all Sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And when we receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion, we are brought more and more into union with Him and with each other.

So, what is the antidote for the divisions that constantly seek to threaten Christianity? It is nothing less than the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Shepherd, who gives Himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament celebrated through the ministry of His Holy Catholic Church. With this in mind, may we never cease to give thanks to our Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep and feeds us with His Precious Body and Blood so that we can be ONE with Him, and share in His Divine Life.

Catholic Necromancy - the Two-Legged Straw Man

I have had the experience, on a few occasions now, where I have encountered well-intentioned, but equally misinformed, Protestant Christians who have accused Catholics of being guilty of NECROMANCY. Basically, they claim that necromancy is communication with the dead, and because Catholics ask the Saints to pray for them, they are guilty of necromancy.

Having come across the argument again in the past couple of weeks, I thought that it would be a good topic to touch on...and in doing so, I hope to show that the accusation is nothing but a two-legged straw man.

The first leg is the redefinition of “necromancy” by those levelling the accusation. Necromancy is NOT simply communication with the dead (as our accusers propose). By definition, necromancy is communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future i.e. it is a type of “consulting” with the dead.

Understood properly, necromancy is forbidden in the Old Testament, and even called an abomination (see Deut 18:10-12). This is what King Saul was punished for when he sought to have the spirit of Samuel conjured up (see 1 Sam 28:7ff). The Holy Catholic Church takes God seriously on this matter, and continues to condemn the practice of necromancy, along with other occultic practices (e.g. CCC # 2115–2117).

The second leg of the straw man is that the TRUE Catholic position is misrepresented. Catholics do not “communicate” with the dead in the way that is purported, much less try to use the Saints to predict the future. Rather, what Catholics REALLY do is ask the Saints to intercede for us. We do this because we are firm believers in the Resurrection – not only of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also of all whom Christ has redeemed by His Precious Blood. We believe that whilst death marks the end of our earthly sojourn, it is not really the end. Rather, it is a beginning. Death is our passage from this mortal life to the fullness of Eternal Life in Him who is the Prince of Life. St. Paul put it this way – he said that in death, although we are “absent from the body”, we are “present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Elsewhere he said that if to live is Christ, then to die is gain (Phil 1:21) pointing to the fact that the life that awaits us after this natural life on earth far surpasses it.

Furthermore, the author of Hebrews tells us that the faithful who have gone before us are witnesses of the race that we are still running whilst here on earth (Heb 12:1). Now, you can’t be dead and be a witness at the same time. So, the Saints who look over us are certainly anything but dead. Also, St. John reminds us a few times in Revelation that there are real LIVE Saints in Heaven, and they even offer up prayers on behalf of God’s Church on earth (cf. Rev 6:9, 8:3-5, etc.). On this basis, to deny the doctrine of the intercession of the Saints is ultimately a rejection of the doctrine of the Resurrection.

One final thing to consider on this basis is what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-3). If the Saints are dead, and shouldn’t be spoken to at all (requesting intercession or otherwise), then I wonder how many non-Catholics would accuse Jesus of necromancy? This is because Jesus Himself communicated with Moses and Elijah – men who were long since dead.

When examined properly and in the light of authentic Catholic teaching it isn't difficult to see that the accusation of necromancy so often levelled against the Catholic Church is really unfounded and misinformed. And when worked to its logical conclusion, the accusation is shown in fact to be illogical. On the other hand, what it does do is simply affirm that what the Holy Catholic Church proposes for our belief remains consistent with God's work of Redemption in Christ Jesus.

The Cross Unites Heaven and Earth

Today we find ourselves in the midst of the great Easter Triduum. Easter is the Church’s greatest feast, with its greatest climax on Easter Sunday when we celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church’s second greatest feast is Christmas. I mention this because Easter and Christmas really speak about the same thing i.e. both Easter and Christmas speak about the uniting of Heaven and Earth.

Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation, the time when Heaven came down to Earth...the time when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

How is this true of Easter? Our parish priest, in his homily this afternoon for the Good Friday commemoration of the Passion, pointed out that the Cross of Christ speaks about the uniting of Heaven and Earth. The vertical beam speaks of Heaven, and the horizontal beam speaks of Earth – and where these two beams unite, where Heaven and Earth come together, is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Now what the priest said in his homily got me thinking a bit. But before I share my thoughts, I first need to take a little detour...

If you were a first century Jew witnessing the Crucifixion of Jesus, you would never have equated it with a sacrifice. That is because the Crucifixion by itself was not a sacrifice - it was an execution! Yet, as Christians today, we say that Jesus Christ offered Himself up on the Cross of Calvary as a Sacrifice – the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. Why is that? There has to have been something that transformed the Crucifixion into something more than an execution in the minds of the first Christians. What was it?

The event that elevated the Crucifixion from execution to Sacrifice was the Last Supper. In fact, the Last Supper wasn’t officially ended until Jesus drank the fourth cup of the Seder meal on the Cross and proclaimed “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). What makes the Crucifixion more than an execution – what makes the Crucifixion a Sacrifice – was the fact that during the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and changed it into His Body; and He took wine, and changed it into His Blood. And more than this... it was His Body which was broken and “given for you” (Lk 22:19). In the same way, the Chalice contained His Blood – the “blood of the New Covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28). So, it is the Last Supper which transforms our understanding of the Crucifixion from execution to Sacrifice.

Right now you might be wondering where I am going with this little detour...

Remember, I mentioned that the Cross speaks of the uniting of Heaven and Earth in the person of Jesus Christ. I took the detour because it was important to point out that the Cross cannot be separated from the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the memorial of the Crucifixion – in the Eucharistic celebration the once-for-all Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is made present for us here and now.

And what’s more, when we receive our Blessed Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament, Heaven and Earth unite. You see, when we receive Holy Communion, we are being united in a most intimate way with Jesus Christ. It is through receiving the Blessed Eucharist that we are made sharers and partakers in Christ’s divine nature.

But even more than this is happening. Each one of us who receives Communion individually also receives only one and the same Lord Jesus Christ. And because of this, when we are being brought into union with Him, we are also being brought into union with each other. Although each of us receives individually we are being brought into communion with each other – because Jesus cannot be divided (1 Cor 1:13; Eph 4:4).

This is what St. Paul meant when he said that the cup of blessing is our communion (sharing with each other) in the Blood of Christ; and the bread that we break is our communion (sharing with each other) in the Body of Christ (1 Cor 10:16-17). Not only is Heaven and Earth united when we share in Christ’s Divine Life through receiving Holy Communion – but, as St. Paul reminds us, the whole Catholic Church is united because of the common union which she is sharing with God.

Now, bringing this all back to the Cross....

The Eucharist is nothing less than the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – the same Body and Blood which was given for us on the Cross of Calvary. And so we see that the Cross of Christ unites Heaven and Earth on so many different levels.

Now, isn’t that an AWESOME thing to ponder?

The Real Issue with Catholic Doctrine

Easter is only a couple of weeks away now, and this Easter will mark the second anniversary of God graciously receiving me and my wife into His Holy Catholic Church. Although I have only been Catholic for two years, both my hands would not be enough to count the number of debates that I have had with Protestants regarding what the Catholic Church REALLY teaches. And in every single debate, the thing that I encounter, without fail, is that Protestants have been grossly misinformed about Catholic doctrine.

In fact, just this week, I came across a Protestant gentleman (no doubt well-meaning) who purported that the Catholic Church uses the Rosary in an attempt to subversively teach her faithful that Jesus is dead and Mary is alive! This is based on the underlying (false) assumption that Catholics place Mary on a higher level than Jesus Christ. The allegation is that because a set of Rosary beads contains a Crucifix (a Cross with an image of the Crucified Jesus) this is meant to show that the Catholic Church really wants Catholics to believe that whilst Jesus is still dead on the Cross, Mary is our only hope because she is alive and in Heaven.  

Of course, if you are Catholic, you are probably shaking your head in disbelief, because one of the greatest truths we hold to as Catholics is that Jesus Christ did not only die on the Cross for our sins; but three days later, He rose again according to the Scriptures. In fact, that is ultimately what this whole Lenten season is about. It is about preparing us for Easter – which is the Church’s greatest feast because in it we celebrate the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord! Not only that, but for us Catholics, every Sunday is a Resurrection Sunday – which is precisely why we don’t worship on Saturday, the Old Covenant Sabbath.

Right now you might be wondering where I am going with this. Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, and the Gospel reading will be taken from Lk 1:26-38. As I was reading this passage earlier today, one verse in particular struck me as being the real (albeit subconscious) issue that Protestants have with Catholic doctrine (even after you have cleared up all their misconceptions).

In Luke 1:37, the Angel Gabriel declares to Mary: “With God nothing will be impossible.”

It’s that simple. Everything that we as Catholics believe ultimately comes down to this one point – NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

You don’t believe that in the Eucharist the bread and wine are transformed into the Real Body and Blood of Jesus? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

You don’t believe that in matters of faith and morals, the Pope cannot teach error? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

You don’t believe that the waters of Baptism wash away our sins? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

You don’t believe that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

You don’t believe that the Catholic Church has remained faithful to the teachings of Jesus handed down through the Apostles? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD! 

You see? The issue is always the same. Before everything else, the real question that we all need to answer is this: “Do we believe in the power of God?”

And by God’s grace, may our response always imitate that of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Let it be done according to Thy word”.

Good Works are God's Grace

The readings for this past Sunday (Fourth Week of Lent) were 2 Chron 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; and Jn 3:14-21. Upon first glance, the common thread between these three readings might not be completely evident. For ease of reference, here are the readings:

2 Chron 36:14-16, 19-23

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD's temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
"Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled."
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!"

Eph 2:4-10

Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ - by grace you have been saved -,
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

Jn 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

In the first reading, we read that Cyrus, king of Persia, decreed that the Israelites were to go and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem – which had previously been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. But what is particularly important about his decree is that Cyrus emphatically states that his directive came from God Himself.

In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that we are saved by faith through nothing other than God’s grace. In other words, we are not saved by our own works. Now, this isn’t the same as saying that we are saved by faith ALONE apart from works, as suggested by Martin Luther (and subsequent Protestantism) because St. James clearly taught that faith alone is dead if it is apart from works (Jms 2:14-26). Ultimately, faith and works go hand in hand. So what is St. Paul saying here? He is saying that we are saved by God’s grace through faith and that the purpose of God’s redeeming us in Christ is so that we might live lives filled with good works (making good works coupled with our faith necessary for our salvation).

Finally, in the Gospel reading we are told that those who live the truth live in the light because they are not ashamed of their good works being made manifest. But, that’s not all that St. John tells us. He says that the good works of those following Christ are “clearly seen as done in God”. All the good works that we as Christians perform are done in God – this is because it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us (Gal 2:20).

In light of the above, what we see Holy Church trying to remind us of is that any good works we do are done only by the grace of God working in our lives. Faith and works are necessary for salvation – but we need always to remember that faith and works are both gifts from God – and that is why St. Paul tells us that we can’t boast in ourselves, but rather that our boast should be in God and God alone.

St. Augustine put it this way:

“Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due...Our merits are God’s gifts.”

The Council of Trent affirmed this when it stated:

“The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness.”

It is no mistake or coincidence that the Church has declared the above passages to be the Scripture readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent either. Because it marks the mid-point of Lent, it is a good opportunity to reflect on how we have been tracking in our Lenten commitments. For some of us, it might mean that we haven’t been as faithful as we would’ve liked and so it becomes an opportunity to redouble our efforts going forward. For others, it might mean that we can look back at a fairly successful Lent so far – but before we start to think too highly of ourselves, these readings come as a timely reminder that if we have been faithful in our Lenten commitments, it is only because we have been co-operating with God’s grace in our lives – and His grace is the ultimate source of all the good works that we do.

So, at this mid-point in the Lenten season, let us keep praying for one another. We should especially take the time to thank God for the ways that we have been faithful thus far, and ask Him to continue to help us in to be faithful in the remainder of our Lenten journey towards Easter.

And last, but certainly not least, let’s not forget that we have God’s great gift of the Saints in Heaven, and especially our Blessed Mother Mary, whom we can ask for help as well. As the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us and know our struggles, they love us and want to see us succeed in our walk with God. So, may we never cease to ask them for their intercession on our behalf before the Throne of Grace.