action of grace

2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12; Psalm 123 To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes; Mark 12:18-27

On Sunday during the Angelus, Pope Benedict speaking about the Most HOly Trinity reminded us as faithful followers of Christ to be "open daily to the action of grace in our life, progressing forward in love of God and love of neighbor."


We must be open to the action of grace. Grace is not something that is stagnant but it is a power that moves us, transforms us, challenges us, directs us, guides us. It is a power that is active and animating throughout our daily living.

It is not limited to our experience of Mass or prayer but is in and through the daily grind of life.

The action of grace is the power of God that JEsus speaks of in the gospel. The power of God that brings forth the resurrection of the body. The action of grace wants to renew and restore our life.

If we keep one eye on the resurrection as we move through life then the other shall be able to recognize the action of grace and the power of God in our life. If we know what the end of grace is, the resurrection and restoration of our body where the spirt of God animates completely our bodies, then we shall also be able to recognize its movement on earth.

The action of grace is that which leads us home, perfected in the image and likeness of God.

One thing to be sure, the action of grace is always that which points to truth and thus recognizes error.

As JEsus responds to the Sadducees in the gospel today, "You are wrong because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God" He points out the reality of the action of grace working in our midst.

JEsus was not afraid to tell people they were wrong. HE did not buy in to the relativistic view of things. We too must follow his lead and not be afraid to point out the error of those around us, trusting that the action of grace is leading us in truth.

In fact when we take a stand against error and for truth we become a living vessel of the action of grace for others.

This is what makes the martyrs such a beautiful witness. They were willing to take a stand and tell their captives that they were wrong.
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In today's gospel Jesus shows himself to be the the leading expert of scripture and its interpretation. This is important. Because it is the same JEsus who gave the Keys of the Kingdom to Peter and his successors, "what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven."

Thus, the same authority of christ who claims hold of the seat of expertise is also passed on to Peter and his successors in their infallibility of faith and morals. The Power of God remains with us in the church.

May we heed it and allow the action of grace to flow forth in our world leading us to the resurrection.

Quote from Pope John Paul II on the action of grace in our life

"Participation in the divine nature, participation in the inner life of God himself, penetration and permeation of what is essentially human by what is essentially divine...so that the life of the human spirit will reach a fullness that was absolutely inaccessible to it before. This new spiritualization will be the fruit of grace, of God's self communication in his very divinity, not only to the soul but to the whole of man's psychosomatic subjectivity...a new formation of man' s entire personal subjectivity to the measure of union with God in his trinitarian mystery and of intimacy with him in the perfect communion of persons...this will not absorb man's personal subjectivity, but, quite on the contrary, will make it emerge in an incomparably greater and fuller measure. "

In other words, Grace rocks our world!