The Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord

Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk 
1st July 2018

Grace and How it Works in Us
by Rev. Fr. Joseph Wilhelm D.D., Ph.D.

Through original sin human nature loses its original freedom and power to lead a righteous life, in the sense of not being able to fulfil the whole moral law, without Divine assistance. The new life and infusion of charity by the Holy Ghost in Baptism are therefore necessary to restore to man his original power of doing good. Nevertheless the baptised soul still retains its natural weakness, and so constantly requires the assistance of actual Divine grace not to be led into temptation and sin.

The process by which God's grace produces a good act in the soul may fitly be compared with the process of generation. God is, as it were, the father, our soul the mother, of the fruit of life. God's life producing grace enters the soul, stirs up its natural energy, is received and developed by that same energy, i.e. the free will, until the good deed is brought forth, the common product of grace and free will. Grace then acts on the soul both negatively and positively. Its negative action consists in preventing the evil action of suggestions of the world, the flesh, and the Devil from taking effect upon the mind. This gracious protection often implies the strengthening of the soul by positive Divine influence. Positively, grace acts in two ways: (1) it externally proposes to the soul objects the knowledge of which is apt to lead to salutary actions; (2) it internally supplies the necessary spiritual energy for performing such actions.

The preaching of the Church, the words and deeds of good men, certain clear manifestations of God's providence, the suggestions of our Guardian Angels, are examples of the first manner. The second, or energising action, is the touch of the heart of the creature by the Creator; it is the touch of the inmost spring of life by the indwelling Author of life. St. Paul compares the factors of spiritual life with those of the growth of a plant: "I have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Cor. 3). The planting and watering represent the external or moral actions; the life-power of the plant is likened to the internal action. Both of these realities act on the mind in order to produce knowledge helpful to bring about good moral actions.

God has not only the power of moving the will physically after the manner of created agents, i.e. from without; He also possesses, in an eminent way, that same power by which the will moves itself. Hence, when He co-operates with the created free will, His co-operation is "a willing", more powerful than the soul's own. As the strong hand of the rider trains the wild horse to obey all its master's wishes, so the Divine hand, mightily and sweetly, trains the human will to find pleasure in doing His will. Thus, the Church teaches that there is but one source of both good and evil deeds, namely, our free will, which is of itself indifferent to good or evil, but becomes the principle of good and meritorious actions when moved with Divine grace.