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.