“Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” This is a hard but necessary saying from Saint Paul. On the one hand, grace is given to us in abundance – there is no limit to God’s forgiveness, His mercy and His love. We will never get to the point where God gives up on us. Human beings might give up on us – family, friends, society, etc. – but God will never give up on us. On the other hand, God gives us grace for a specific purpose: to elicit our free and loving response. God does not give us a clean slate just so that we can feel better about ourselves.
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Paul’s meditation on Jesus can be a powerful support to our own act of faith. So long as we look at ourselves, at our own weaknesses, at how small we are and how afraid we are of difficult things, we are tempted to discouragement. We know Jesus is looking at us, saying, “Come, follow me.” And we want to, but we know our own track record: part of me wants to follow you Lord, and another part of me is afraid I’ll have to leave behind things or people I love but are too worldly. Another part of me is tired and wants to take a nap or waste time on trivial pursuits. Another part of me feels guilty for sins that I’ve committed and I’m not sure I won’t commit again. Another part of me isn’t sure I can trust you completely. In short, I say yes to you Lord, but I also say no. On good days, my yes is stronger – on bad days my no is stronger.
Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Beatitudes are a refreshing way to approach the way we live out our lives. Beatitude comes from the word in Latin “benedicere” which means to bless or to say something good. In Greek the word for beatitude comes from the word makarios which refers to the happiness one who is treated favourably experiences. If you read through the Psalms and the book of Proverbs, you will come across almost fifty different “beatitudes.” They all come in the form of, “blessed is the one who…” – like in Psalm 1 where it says, “Blessed indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor goes in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of scorners. He is like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters.” The Old Testament beatitudes talk about how much happier human life is for those who obey the commandments of God. The New Testament Beatitudes talk about how much happier eternal life is than this one. You see, Jesus knows that we want to be happy, and He wants us to be supremely happy. The trick is, we have to adjust our perspective from living just to be happy in this world, to living for the next.