Christian and Catholic!Exemplo

Grace upon Grace

God gives us his love apart from our ability to deserve it which expands our hearts and makes us able to receive more of his love apart from our ability to deserve it.  It's a taste of Heaven.  It's a free gift merited not by us but by the free gift of grace and by the change the free gift of grace makes in us by its own power apart from anything we can do on our own. As this happens we begin to say with St. Paul: "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me" (Galatians 2:20 NABRE) as we receive "grace upon grace" (John 1:16 NABRE).  

God's grace truly is amazing.  God offers us grace apart from our works and this inevitably creates good works in us that help us more deeply receive this grace which God offers apart from our works. It's an amazing and humbling reality that quiets and delights the soul on the deepest level when you experience it by welcoming grace and the change it makes in you over time personally. 

Praying at that point doesn't require effort.  Instead prayer becomes as St. Theresa of Lisieux said, "a surge of the heart" that naturally emerges from you as you recognize the great love of your Savior. It's absolutely piercing and the joy it brings is simply greater than any happiness sin can offer.  Literally, by God's grace God loves us as sinners and then also loves us out of sin.  Both our salvation and our changed lives are the work of grace apart from our works.  It is as St. Augustine said, "Salvation is: simply and solely grace."

Christian Unity

As Catholics we really are a people who believe in salvation by grace through faith apart from works.  We are.  So are our Evangelical brothers and sisters. Evangelicals also really are a people who believe that faith without works is dead, because it says so in Scripture.  They are.  So are Catholics.  We are one in Christ so much more than we know.  And I think Christ weeps over our separation mostly because it is an illusion instead of a reality. 

There are many ideas that divide Catholics and other groups of Christians, but our understanding of how we are saved does not need to be one of them.  And if we agree on Jesus Christ and salvation by grace, then the remaining divisions are quite small by comparison.  

If God can make in me a person who believes that I am saved by grace alone through faith alone apart from works and a practicing Catholic fully faithful to all the Catholic Church's teachings, we must be more one than some of us (both Catholic and Protestant) have ever imagined.  Therefore, let's be more one. Perhaps the first small step is recognizing that, yes, someone can be a Christian and a Catholic like me.

Your Decision

If salvation and your changed lifestyle are the result of grace and if God has already decided he wants everyone in Heaven by offering all people grace as it says in 1 Timothy 2:4, then the only thing between you and being saved and changed is your personal decision about God's grace.

Every Catholic Sacrament is an opportunity to decide about grace.  Every experience of any Christian community is an opportunity to decide about grace.  Every invitation to pray, study Scripture, forgive an enemy, and love those in need is an opportunity to decide about grace.  Every moment in life is an opportunity to decide about grace.  And most importantly, right now is an opportunity to decide about grace. 

How about You?

Have you consciously said 'yes' to the grace God offers you?  If you haven't, today is a great day to say your first 'yes' to grace.  If you have, today is a great day to say another deeper 'yes' to grace and affirm your invitation for God to come into your life!

If you're a Catholic, you will find this invitation to consciously welcome God's grace  through this video particularly fitting.  If you're not a Catholic, you too can also welcome God's grace more deeply with this invitation to pray.  And wherever you are in your walk with God, realize that God's grace is always only one 'yes' away – no matter what you've done, where you go to church, or what you believe about any "disputable matters." God has said 'yes' to you on the cross as you are.  All that matters now is that you say 'yes' to him.

Learn more: This devotional is taken directly from the book Christian and Catholic, which has received the Imprimatur of the Catholic Church.  Learn more about our Personally Catholic books and videos at PersonallyCatholic.com!