#sanctifying grace

James 1:17-21; John 16:5-14

The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is the Sanctifier. Hence he is, as we say in the Creed, “Dominum et Vivificantem”, the Lord and Giver of Life. For to be holy, to become sanctified, is to participate more fully in the life of the Lord God, and so to share in the eternal life of God the Blessed Trinity himself. This is what we commonly refer to as heaven.

One problem with the word ‘heaven’ is that it seems to us like a location. We refer to the skies above us as the heavens, for example, and so going to heaven can sound like becoming a kind of spiritual astronaut. Such a simplistic idea of heaven would lead the Soviet leader Khrushchev to say: “Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god up there”. The Lord recognises this commonplace tendency to localise heaven and to think of it as a place. As he observes in today’s Gospel, his disciples might have asked him where he is going – although none of them do so because their curiosity has been overwhelmed by their sorrow at his imminent departure. So he tells them that he is going not to somewhere but to Someone: “I am going to him who sent me.” (Jn 16:5) So, the Son is returning to the Father, although of course in his divine nature, Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, has never left God the Father, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, because God is One: the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity is an eternal and undivided unity.

So, in what sense is Jesus Christ going to the one who sent him? How is he going to the Father? It must be in his human nature, the humanity that Jesus assumed at his Incarnation in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, and in which he suffered and wept and died, sharing the burden of our fallen human condition. So, at his Ascension, Christ who is both “true God and true Man”, takes our humanity with its mortality and sickness and pain, and he goes to the Father, he ascends with our human nature into the fullness of Life itself. Jesus tells his disciples that he must go to the Father and it is to their “advantage”. Indeed, it is to the advantage of all humanity, and particularly of all the baptised. And “advantage” is a bit of an understatement. For let us be clear: By going to the Father with our human nature, Christ has in fact divinised our humanity, making it possible henceforth for all who are united to him by grace, to share in the divine life of God!

Hence, in heaven, as the human nature participates in the divine Life itself, all that is lacking in the human condition – all the sorrow and suffering and sin that we endure and that we know too well – shall be redeemed, restored, renewed. In Christ and with Christ and through Christ, our human nature is thus to be filled with the fullness of God. This is what we call holiness; this is what we mean by heaven; this is our goal and calling as Christians. We’re called to be Saints!

Notice, therefore, that heaven isn’t so much a place as a state of existing in the Lord God who is being itself. Heaven is to enjoy the fullness of God who is Life itself, without any lack, any defects, any imperfections, for heaven is to participate in the abundance of the divine life itself, the life of the Risen Lord who is victorious over sin and sickness and sorrow and death. Thus St John, in the book of Apocalypse, refers to “a new heaven and a new earth” in which man shall live with God and he with them, so that “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more.” (cf Apoc 21:1, 3-4) This is the life of the Saints, of those who dwell in God and he in them, and this is the life that the Holy Spirit comes to give us even now through grace. As St John says: “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them.” (Apoc 21:3) Thus, the Lord Jesus says to his disciples in today’s Gospel that it is to our “advantage” that he goes for having, as it were, established the principle of a divinised humanity in his own Person by going to the Father, so now he sends the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, to dwell within us so as to make us divine – this is the effect of what we call sanctifying grace which is caused in our souls by the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Holy Spirit is the “Lord and Giver of Life”: the Spirit comes to sanctify us, to raise us up from the death-dealing condition of sin, and to make us partakers of divine life so that, as Jesus says, “he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (Jn 11:25).

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means, ultimately, to know that he alone can save us from our fallen human condition. It means to trust that Christ has won our salvation, so that, even if we suffer sickness and sorrow and death in this life, we believe, we know in faith, that these do not have any lasting power over us. For Christ has risen from the dead! He has conquered the grave! He has freed man from the finality of death! To believe in the risen Lord Jesus is to be rescued from despair and despondency, and to be freed from all the lies of the Devil. For the Enemy tells us that God has abandoned us, and that we must therefore save ourselves, escape our human limitations through acquiring more money, power, material goods, drugs, and bodily pleasures. But Christ sets us free from slavery to sin and the slave masters of a godless world, and God has sent the Holy Spirit to liberate us. Hence Jesus says in today’s Gospel: the Spirit will “convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement” and “he will guide you into all the truth”. (Jn 16:8, 13b)

Pope St John Paul II explains that in this passage from St John’s Gospel, the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to believe in Jesus and his identity as Saviour. He says: “Convincing about sin and righteousness has as its purpose the salvation of the world, the salvation of men.” (Dominum et Vivificantem, 27) Therefore, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and vivifies us by turning us away from unbelief; away from trusting in idols, in those persons and things and actions which cannot save us but lead to futility and death. Rather, we’re led into Truth, that is to say we’re led deeply into becoming like Jesus himself. For the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. So, his grace causes us to love as God loves, and his gifts and virtues strengthen and enable us to act according to the movements of divine love, so that what we do and say and who we become will glorify God. This is what it is to be a Saint, and this is why the Holy Spirit is given to us. He dwells in us to teach us how to become Saints. As Jesus says: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (Jn 16:14) Behold, the Spirit, with his gift of sanctifying grace alive in our souls, makes us become like Jesus, we become like God; the Spirit divinises our humanity; he sanctifies us. Thus, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all the truth”, that is to say, he will guide us into the life of God the Blessed Trinity himself for God is All-True. He will guide us to heaven.

Many Catholic saints over the centuries have received revelations about hell and St John Bosco had a very detailed dream or journey there. He walked down the wide road that led there; an easy stroll at first although sloping down in a progressively steeper gradient until it dropped off altogether into the abyss. He saw so many of the young people he loved stumbling and falling there. 

It progressed much the same way that sin and separation from God can be seen in our day. Where sins may give pleasure to the senses for example, this leads to giving reasons for sin, defending one’s actions as habits and then addictions are formed. Eventually they are claimed as rights as they become an integral part of lifestyle. The road in Don Bosco’s dream becomes so steep that those on it run uncontrollably for their destination in the end. 

So many young people leave God and the church behind and of those, I wonder how many would return if they felt there was a way back. The bondage of sin is hard to break, but worse when people conclude that their sins are too numerous or too grievous. They don’t realise that God’s Ocean of Mercy, obtained by the death and Resurrection of Jesus, is unfathomable (as revealed to St Faustina) and that every sin since the beginning until the end of time can be washed away by it. 

Others may be put off because they believe that their weakness is such that, even if they repented and were reconciled with God, that they would quickly return to former habits as they are too weak to resist temptation. This is also ‘fake news’ because mercy and forgiveness come with a tag-team partner which is supernatural grace or strength. If a person is sincere with a deep sorrow for sin, grace can vanquish even the worst addictions, sometimes immediately. 

Intercession is needed too as Our Lady reminded the seers in Fatima:- "Pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." 

The good news is not only forgiveness & mercy but also strength to carry on and to be victorious in the Spiritual life. Sometimes the greatest sinners become the greatest saints if they change direction and go ‘all in’ for God.

Romans 6:21–23 (ESV)

21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 A wise person said recently that: "We can come to Christ just as we are, but we should not stay as there." God loves us just as we are, but he loves us too much to let us stay as we came." He desires to bring fruit into our lives that will lead us into sanctifying grace, or life changing grace. We are not pleasing to God because of the way we have changed, we change because we are pleasing to God in Christ. Our lives are grounded in and upon his salvation grace as our foundation, but are completed experientially by building on it by allowing God to change our lives.

  1 John 4:18–19 (ESV)

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

 We love him and we love others, because of what salvation grace has brought into our lives. First, an absolute freedom from the guilt, shame and fear of divine consequences of our past and our sins. For God has gone on record as saying this to us:

  Hebrews 8:12 (ESV)

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

  Psalm 103:11–12 (ESV)

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

  Isaiah 38:17 (ESV)

17 Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

 Such are the words of God about his salvation grace towards us and their work within us. Wonderful words of life indeed. Sanctifying grace builds upon them to bring us into growth and maturity. We never will be perfect and will always need to be going forward. We will need to rebound, be restored and then make progress in our Christian lives. But his grace is always there for us ready to bring us into new dimensions of his provision for us. Check out these promises:

  2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 It is not always pleasant to experience weaknesses. Especially if they show up through the agency of insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities in our lives. When we do see ourselves as the powerless and shallow beings that we can be in the flesh, it is good to know that we can be strengthened and empowered by his sanctifying grace. He changes our weakness into strength. He lifts us up. He is the restorer of our lives. He brings us out of our limited resources into the fullness of his grace. How we need him to do these things in our lives:

  Psalm 27:1–3 (ESV)

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 This is a man who knew the reality of sanctifying grace. May we discover this grace that changes and empowers us today.

- written for torch.op.org

A man in white, the astronaut Yuri Gagarin, reportedly said: “I went up to space, but I didn't encounter God”. But had he listened to the two men in white who spoke to the men of Galilee, he could have saved himself the trouble of seeking God up in space. “Why do you stand looking [up] into heaven?” (Acts 1:11). As another man in white said forty days earlier on Easter morning, “he is not here” (Mk 16:6). For neither down in the grave nor up in the skies will we find our God. Where, then, is Jesus? How might Man encounter God?

St Luke says that Jesus was taken “out of [the apostles’] sight” (Acts 1:9), and yet at the same time they are told to be Christ’s “witnesses… to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This seems rather paradoxical since the ordinary sense of witnessing means to see something or someone; it is through our senses that we ordinarily gain a witness’s knowledge. But Christ is taken from their sight, so he cannot be seen. The clouds veil him, and so, Jesus is said to be beyond the perceptivity of our senses. But this does not mean that God is thus absent or unknowable or even non-existent, as Gagarin erroneously supposed. After all, St Mark says that even after his Ascension “the Lord worked with [the apostles] and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it” (Mk 16:20). So, Christ is present and active and he can be known through signs; from these effects we can witness the Cause.

The Sign par excellence by which Christ remains present and active among us, working with his disciples, is the Eucharist. The men in white promise the apostles that Christ “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11), and we tend to think this is a reference to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. But we need not jump to that conclusion. For just as Christ went invisibly, taken from the apostles’ sight, so he comes to us invisibly. He comes and is present and active among us through the gift of sanctifying grace, through the sacraments, and above all, through the Eucharist. As St Thomas says, “in this sacrament Christ shows us his flesh in an invisible manner”. Therefore, Ratzinger says, “every Eucharist is Parousia, the Lord’s coming” and “the Liturgy is Parousia, a Parousia-like event taking place in our midst”. For through the sacred Liturgy we encounter God, and he makes us “sharers in his divinity” (cf Preface of the Ascension).

But, how is it that so many can go to liturgies and see the Eucharist, and still say, like Gagarin, “I didn’t encounter God”? Pope Francis speaks of how we all need, every day, at least an “openness to letting [Christ] encounter [us]”: it is the openness that comes through humble faith. Hence St Mark stresses that divine signs will “accompany those who believe” (16:17), for faith is the primary mode by which we can know and encounter God. So St Thomas points out that Man needs faith to “supply for the failure of the senses” to perceive God’s real presence among us. We Christians, therefore, “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7) St Paul says. For although Christ has been taken from our sight we can still come to know and love him, to believe his word, and to experience his living presence in the Liturgy and in the world through faith. Thus Jesus says to his apostles: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you [so that] you shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). So, especially in this period before Pentecost, let us pray as the apostles did: “Increase our faith!” (Lk 17:5). For it is the Holy Spirit who infuses in each of us the virtues necessary for us to be Christ’s witnesses, beginning with the theological virtue of faith.

1 Cor 6:1-11; Ps 149; Luk3 6:12-19

If St Paul were to ask Christians today: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Cor 6:2); "Do you not know that we are to judge angels?" (1 Cor 6:3); I suspect the answer would be "No". Indeed, he'd be told that we're not to be judgemental. "Who am I to judge?" So, what does St Paul mean?

It seems to me that what Paul is objecting to, most of all, is disunity among the Christian community in Corinth, and a public show of disunity in which Christians charged other Christians before a civil and secular court. For him this is scandalous because it offends against the fundamental unity that binds Christians together in Jesus Christ. As he says: "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:11). For through the grace of baptism, we have become one with Christ; the Holy Trinity dwells in us, and it is a union that only mortal sin – the sins he lists verses 9 to10 – can disrupt. So, St Paul is expressing here the central mystery of our Faith, that we are called to become partakers in the divine life, one with God through sanctifying grace. And the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of unity, expresses this holy communion between God and Man. As we pray in the Third Eucharistic Prayer: "Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son, and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ".

And the Spirit, St Paul understands, will give those gifts of prudence, wisdom, and right judgement which should enable us to sort out our differences among ourselves. His worry is essentially theological: as we've been given the Spirit of truth, why should we need recourse to those who have not received grace through baptism, and who thus do not have these supernatural gifts and Spirit-filled virtues? 

It's St Paul's ecclesiology, his theological vision of what God's grace does for us that also underlies what he says about judgement. For it is precisely a graced union with Christ that enables the saints to judge the world and judge the angels, that is, the earthly and heavenly realms and their inhabitants. Such startling powers are only possible because what grace accomplishes for Christ's saints is also startling: nothing less than union with God, divinization.