On Having an Attitude of Grace

For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God…Eph. 2:8

If I ever felt that there was something to worry about or to be concerned ultimately in life, today’s readings do a lot to put my fears to rest. God lets us know that his grace is working in our lives and that through it we will be abundantly blessed.

The gospel tells us to be rich in what matters to God. Thus, we are to be rich in spirit; that is, we are to be rich in our prayer life; rich in communication with God, but also rich in our relationships with others. We are to be rich in our sense of community and rich in a holy attitude that seeks for the good of others. We are to seek relationships of love and friendship—with our spouses and children, and with all whom we have contact daily.

Too often it’s easy to find a common attitude similar to what we see in the gospel where the greedy store up for themselves and rest securely. Too of often the poor and suffering of our world get overlooked, or we rationalize their situations to satisfy our attitude that it has nothing to do with us and that anyone who suffers in this life has only himself or herself to blame.

Sometimes the degree to which it’s possible to find a self-justifying attitude is appalling. One feature I’ve noticed among the Catholic bloggers who tend to take up neo-conservative political positions is that regardless of what is being discussed, they always claim to be right and there is no sense in trying to make a point to the contrary. They remind me of the very people who put Jesus to death. They claim to love their faith and religion but their hearts are far from God. I have to wonder where these folks are really coming from. I find an alarming trend exists among many of the popular Catholic bloggers to dissent with the US bishops and frequently to ridicule the USCCB on just about everything. I find it appalling when I see them ridiculing parishes and communities that strive toward healing and unity.

Woe to me if I find myself in a similar position where I feel secure enough to trust in my ways over the ways of God—be it with anything that this life offers. We cannot put our trust in political ideologies, in wealth, or in the might of nations. Our role is to trust in something else, even perhaps to trust in something that runs contrary to this world’s wisdom. The gift of grace has saved us, and certainly we are blind if we do not see and understand mercy as grace. Now our job is to share a little grace—to share the mercy we have received. In sharing mercy and grace, in reaching out and offering a day of amnesty, we will be making ourselves rich in the things of God.

This week, as many of us begin our workweeks, let us be thankful for the wonderful opportunities that our Lord has given us to share the wealth of his grace in our encounter with those whom we will meet and serve. Let us pray together for our Church, and let us particularly be strong in the things that matter most. Our Lord has fed us with his own Body, may we carry the grace we hold within us to all the world.

Comments

[anonymous]

Amen

[Gabrielle]

I love your second paragraph, deacon dan, and just thinking about this richness, this fullness of life which is possible if we concentrate on what matters to God. It is inspiring, and motivating.