Protestants see the sacraments as works, attempts to perform an action in order to be rewarded by God. Catholics see the sacraments as an interaction with Jesus. The woman just touched the hem of His cloak and His healing grace flowed out from Him. Matthew 9:20-22 The sacraments enable us to physically interact with God through Jesus and be filled with soul-saving grace. What is grace? “God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 Grace is the transforming love of God (Holy Spirit).
There are many ways to interact with God and be touched by His grace. The Catholic Church sees the sacraments as the ultimate way. It sees the sacraments as a means given to us by Jesus to interact with us for given purposes, i.e. healing of a body or soul, union of a man and a woman, entrance into the Body, healing of the soul, strengthening of the soul, priesthood, and feeding of the soul. The Eucharist is at the top since in it Jesus gives us Himself. The sacraments open to us the flow of grace as the woman touching Jesus’ cloak. For our part we must be open to receive grace. Sin closes our door, makes us less receptive, as a disobedient child who does not appreciate or accept a valuable gift. The sacraments are not works, but a hug from Jesus, a physical touch by our Redeemer to fill us as much as we want to be filled with His love, His grace, the Holy Spirit.
"What matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And without the love of Jesus, everything else is useless." St. John Paul II
+++++++++++++++++++++God's timing is not our timing, but He is never late.+++++++++++++++
"If we're open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives." Donna Van Liere, The Christmas Shoes
"If we're open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives." Donna Van Liere, The Christmas Shoes
Layers - in the knowledge of God and the path to holiness
Learning about God is like unwrapping a head of lettuce, pealing back one leaf at a time. Always there is another leaf below. We will eventually reach the center of the head of lettuce; but we will never unwrap everthing there is to know about God.
The path to holiness is like pealing an onion. God shows us what is sinful and convicts us that we have sinned. No matter how sweet the onion, there are always tears in the peeling. No matter how sweet the grace of repentence, there are always the pain of letting go of the sin. As the peeling of the onion reveals another layer, so God shows us what we lack in holiness, drawing us ever closer to "be(ing) perfect even just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
The path to holiness is like pealing an onion. God shows us what is sinful and convicts us that we have sinned. No matter how sweet the onion, there are always tears in the peeling. No matter how sweet the grace of repentence, there are always the pain of letting go of the sin. As the peeling of the onion reveals another layer, so God shows us what we lack in holiness, drawing us ever closer to "be(ing) perfect even just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
What I Believe
Why I am and always will be a Catholic. "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Tthe living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." John 6:53-58 The words and actions of man cannot sanctify. Only the priest, empowered by his ordination, can invoke the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into Jesus so we can receive Him - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity into our bodies and souls. This is the core of the Catholic Church; without this there is no purpose or meaning to the Catholic Church. There are other ways to holiness, to grow in grace; there is no better way than union with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Visitation Catholic Church
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