Archbishop
William Lori, of Baltimore, is the national chaplain of the Knights of Columbus
and writes a monthly column in the Knights’ magazine, Columbia. A few years ago, he told of how he was on an
air flight, and the passenger next to him proceeded to tell him what he
believed and did not believe about religion.
Archbishop Lori made the observation that religion is not about our
approach to God, but about God’s approach to us.
Religion
is revealed, and faith is a way of knowing.
We are blessed to be Catholics, who appreciate this, and who can benefit
from what God has revealed to us about Himself for our happiness in this life
and for our salvation.
The
fact is, everyone believes in something.
Even in the Old Testament there is an appreciation for this, where the
pagans, the atheists, are not referred to as those who do not believe in God,
but as those who believe in no God. To
believe in something is part of the human condition, and what we believe in
will certainly influence our lives. It
is so important that we have doctrinal clarity in our faith, because it is what
we believe in, and what guides us. If we
are looking through a telescope into space, and are a few millimeters off at
this end, by the time we look at the moon we could be 10,000 miles off. We do not want that to happen with our
faith. Catholicity gives us clarity, and
the Lord warns us, beware of false prophets.
St.
Paul tells us in the Epistle that we believe in sanctifying grace. This is the indwelling of God, Who shares the
divine life with us. Human nature has
been wounded by original sin, but not destroyed. God made the human person good, each still
bears the image and likeness of God our Creator, and possesses human
dignity. By baptism, our first encounter
with sanctifying grace, we bear the image and likeness of Christ, and possess
the dignity of the children of God. By
sanctifying grace, the intellect, made to know God, but darkened by sin, is
enlightened. The will, made to love God,
but weakened by sin, is strengthened. As
St. Paul says, justified, we are sanctified, and this sanctification leads to
eternal life.
God
has not taken us out of the world, but, by sanctifying grace, we live in the world
in a dedicated union with God. In
today’s Gospel, the Lord has taught us that it is by their fruits that you
shall know them. This is the fruit which
the Lord calls us to bear in the world around us, that of sanctifying grace, of
the divine indwelling. The 16th
century Carmelite mystic, St. John of the Cross, speaking of prayer, observes
that those who love each other exchange gifts.
God, Who has first loved us, has endowed us with so many expressions of
His life and His love. What can we give
to Him? St. John of the Cross recommends
that we humbly offer to God the virtues He has helped us to achieve, and the
sacrifices which we have willingly made out of love for Him. This is not boasting. These gifts are pleasing to God.
An
early Church Father says of prayer, let the Lord walk freely in the garden of
your soul. Let Him see the trees, and
the growth of faith, hope, and love; let Him see our contrition, a consolation
of the Holy Ghost, for our sins, which, loving a repentant heart, draws forth His
mercy and forgiveness. And if there is
tree or shrub or plant of virtue which we wish, or one which needs to bear
fruit, let us present that to Him in prayer, for in the indwelling of
sanctifying grace, He waters and tends the garden of our souls.
