Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 19)
If we look at the world around us, we can observe three kinds of life: vegetative life (found in plants), sensitive life (found in animals), and intellectual or rational life (found in humans). Plant life is characterized by growth and nourishment through soil and air. A rock cannot do these things because it is not alive. Sensitive life is characterized by growth and nourishment (like plants), but also by feeling, tasting, and hearing. Rational life can perform all the activities of plants and animals, but is above them because of the ability to think, to choose, and to love. These are all natural forms of life.
But there is a fourth kind of life called supernatural life, which is over and above natural life and can be found in persons who are in the “state of grace,” which means sharing in the life of God by following His Commandments and teachings and avoiding separation from Him through sin. Grace is a supernatural gift of God that is given to us through the life and death of Jesus. We might know that God made us to get to Heaven, and we might want to go there, but we can’t do so by our natural talents. God must lift us up spiritually through supernatural assistance that we call grace.
As we have seen, God always existed and was infinitely happy from all eternity. He did not need anything to increase His happiness, but His love was so great that He wanted to share His happiness with others. So, He created angels and humans and raised our natures to a higher level. Unfortunately, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and fell from this higher level. But instead of abandoning them, God sent His Son Jesus to make up for their sin and to raise us up once more to a supernatural level.
There are two kinds of grace. The first kind is sanctifying grace, which is an invisible quality in our soul that gives us a share in the life of God Himself and makes it possible for us to get to Heaven. It is our passport to Heaven and, without it, we have no chance of reaching Heaven. Sanctifying grace comes to us first in Baptism, and it can be increased through the other sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist. But this special grace can be lost through commission of mortal sin. It can be regained, however, through the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. Just as good food and exercise can make the body healthy, so prayer and the sacraments can make the soul healthy and keep us in God’s friendship.
The second kind is actual grace, which is a special help from God which enlightens our minds and strengthens our will to choose good and to avoid evil. This help can come in the form of a person advising us to do or not to do a certain thing. A person might encourage us to pray, or to attend Mass, or to return to the practice of the faith. Or a person might discourage us from drinking too much, or from watching pornography, or from engaging in immoral sexual practices. You would be surprised how many actual graces God sends to us each day to bring us back to Him.
When we are in the state of sanctifying grace, God gives us some other supernatural powers to help us. These include the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Faith leads us to believe firmly in everything that God has told us. Hope leads us to put all our trust in God and to know that He will do everything possible to get us to Heaven. Charity leads us to love God above everything else, and to love other people because God created them, too.
God also gives us four moral virtues. They are prudence, which helps us make the right decisions in everyday life; justice, which helps us to give everyone what is due to them and not deprive others of what belongs to them; fortitude, which gives us the courage to do the right thing; and temperance, which helps us to control our desires and to use things in the right way.
The Holy Spirit also gives us seven gifts at Confirmation to make us stronger Catholics. These gifts are wisdom (seeing things the way God sees them), understanding (helping us to recognize truth from error), knowledge (grasping the teachings of God), counsel (seeking advice to make right decisions), fortitude (having the courage to do the right thing), piety (showing reverence for God and the things of God), and fear of the Lord (avoiding anything that would offend God and separate us from Him).
Because He loves us so much, God has given us all these graces and virtues to help us experience the incredible joys of Heaven. However, we have to do our part as well. God created us without our cooperation, but He will not save us unless we cooperate with Him.
List of Answers:
ACTUAL
COOPERATE
HOLY SPIRIT
JESUS
LIFE
LOVE
MORAL
SANCTIFYING
SIN
SUPERNATURAL
THEOLOGICAL
Quiz:
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress