Rev José Mario O Mandía
jmom.honlam.org
Let’s talk a bit more about sanctifying grace. We have said that it is like an upgrade in our status from the human level to the level of God.
For us to appreciate what this means, imagine someone having the power of granting human nature to an animal, for instance, his pet dog. Once the dog acquires human nature, it acquires all the powers and privileges that come with it: the ability to think and love, the ability to discuss issues; the right to apply for an ID, to find a job, to open a bank account…. Yes, that’s what it means.
The CCC (No. 460) states: “The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:4): ‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God’ (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses). ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’ (St Athanasius, De incarnatione). ‘The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods’ (St Thomas Aquinas, Opusculum 57).”
While we are here on earth, this change in status is not so apparent to us because “for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood” (1 Corinthians 13:12). It is only in the afterlife that we can fully see and enjoy it. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). To “be like him” is beyond what we can imagine. That’s why St Paul says that “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Psalm 16:11 gives us a glimpse of it: “in thy presence there is fullness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore”.
Sanctifying grace gives us divine life. How about the other kinds of grace?
GRACE IS ALSO LIGHT AND LOVE (STRENGTH)
The CCCC (No. 424) teaches us that: “Besides habitual grace, there are [1] actual graces (gifts for specific circumstances), [2] sacramental graces (gifts proper to each sacrament), [3] special graces or charisms (gifts that are intended for the common good of the Church) among which are the graces of state that accompany the exercise of ecclesial ministries and the responsibilities of life.”
These graces, unlike sanctifying grace (a supernatural entitative habit), do not affect our being but rather our operations or actions. They are operative habits given to us by God. These God-given operative habits work like supernatural vitamins for the intellect and will. Because our acts arise from our intellect and will, these graces give light (for the intellect) and strength (for the will) so that we can act according to what is really true and good. What’s the connection of love with strength? Love is the greatest source of strength.
These supernatural operative habits are what the CCC (No. 1996) refers to when it says: “Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life (cf. John 1:12-18; 17:3; Romans 8:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4).”
ACTUAL GRACE. To understand the difference between sanctifying grace and actual grace, we can imagine a seed that we plant on the ground. Sanctifying grace is like the seed: the seed is life. But for it to grow, it needs nutrients from the soil, it needs water, it needs the air, it needs the sun. Actual graces are like all these factors that help the seed to grow.
Actual grace, in particular, accompanies us all the way, from the preparation to the conclusion of God’s big project, which is our sanctification (cf. CCC No. 2001). “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
God freely gives, but we have to freely receive and respond. The CCC (No. 2002) reiterates this point: “God’s free initiative demands man’s free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only enters freely into the communion of love.”
(Image: Pexels at pixabay.com)
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