Consideration XIX - WHAT A GREAT GOOD THE GRACE OF GOD IS, AND WHAT AN EVIL THE DISGRACE OF GOD

"Nescit homo pretium eius" (Job 28:13).

Point I

The Lord says: "Si separaveris pretiosum a vili, quasi os meum eris" (Jer. 15:19). He who knows how to separate the precious from the worthless makes himself like God, who knows how to reject evil and choose good. Let us see what good is the grace of God and what evil is the disgrace of God. Men do not understand the value of divine grace. "Nescit homo pretium eius." And therefore they exchange it for nothing — for a puff of smoke, for a bit of earth, for a bestial pleasure. But it is an infinite treasure, which makes us worthy of God's friendship. "Infinitus enim thesaurus est hominibus, quo qui usi sunt, participes facti sunt amicitiae Dei" (Wis. 7:14). So a soul in grace is a friend of God. The pagans, lacking the light of faith, considered it impossible for a creature to hold friendship with God; and speaking according to natural light, they were right, because friendship, as St. Jerome says, makes friends equal: "Amicitia pares aut accipit, aut facit." But God has declared to us in many places that through His grace we become His friends by the observance of His law: "Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae praecipio vobis" (John 15:14). "Iam non dicam vos servos... vos autem dixi amicos" (ibid. 15). Hence St. Gregory exclaims: O goodness of God! We do not deserve to be called even His servants, and He deigns to call us friends: "Oh mira divinae bonitatis dignatio! Servi non sumus digni nominari, et amici vocamur."

How fortunate one would consider himself who had the good fortune of having the king as a friend! But it would be presumption for a subject to claim friendship with his prince. Yet it is not presumption for a soul to claim to be a friend of its God. St. Augustine relates that two courtiers, finding themselves in a monastery of hermits, one of them began to read there the life of St. Anthony the Abbot. "Legebat," writes the Saint, "et exuebatur mundo cor eius." He read, and in reading, his heart detached itself from worldly affections. Then turning to his companion, he spoke thus: "Quid quaerimus? Maior ne esse potest spes nostra, quam quod amici imperatoris simus? Et per quot pericula ad maius periculum pervenitur? et quandiu hoc erit?" Friend, he said, what fools we are — what are we seeking? Can we hope for more by serving the emperor than to become his friends? And if we attained so much, we would expose ourselves to a greater danger to our eternal salvation. But no, we will hardly ever succeed in having Caesar for a friend. "Amicus autem Dei, si voluero, ecce nunc fio." But if I wish, he said, to be a friend of God, I can become one right now.

He who is in the grace of God, then, becomes a friend of God. Moreover, he becomes a son: "Ecce Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes" (Ps. 81:6). This is the great fortune that divine love has obtained for us through Jesus Christ. "Videte qualem caritatem dedit nobis Pater, ut filii Dei nominemur, et simus" (1 John 3:1). Moreover, the soul in grace becomes a spouse of God: "Sponsabo te mihi in fide" (Hos. 2:20). And therefore the father of the prodigal son, receiving him into his grace, ordered that the ring be given him as a sign of the betrothal: "Date annulum in manum eius" (Luke 15:22). I say further: it becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. Sister Mary of Oignies saw a demon depart from a child who received baptism, and the Holy Spirit enter with a crown of angels.

Affections and Prayers

So then, my God, my soul, when it happily stood in Your grace, was Your friend and daughter, spouse and temple; but then, sinning, it lost everything and became Your enemy and a slave of hell. But I thank You that You still give me time to recover Your grace, O my God. I repent above every evil of having offended You, O infinite Goodness. And I love You above all things. Ah, receive me anew into Your friendship. For pity's sake, do not disdain me. I know well that I would deserve to be cast away by You, but Jesus Christ deserves that You should receive me again, repentant, for the love of the sacrifice He made of Himself on Calvary. "Adveniat regnum tuum." My Father (so Your Son has taught me to call You): my Father, come with Your grace to reign in my heart; grant that it may serve You alone, live for You alone, love You alone. "Et ne nos inducas in tentationem." Ah, do not permit our enemies to tempt me in such a way that I am overcome by them. "Sed libera nos a malo." Deliver me from hell, but first deliver me from sin, which alone can lead me to hell.

O Mary, pray for me, and deliver me from this great evil: that I should find myself in sin and deprived of the grace of your God and mine.

Point II

St. Thomas Aquinas says that the gift of grace exceeds every gift a creature can receive, since grace is a participation in the very nature of God: "Donum gratiae excedit omnem facultatem naturae creatae, cum sit participatio divinae naturae." And St. Peter had already said: "Ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae" (2 Pet. 1:4). So much has Jesus Christ merited for us by His Passion: He has communicated to us the very splendor He received from God. "Et ego claritatem, quam dedisti mihi, dedi eis" (John 17:22). In short, whoever is in the grace of God becomes one thing with God: "Qui adhaeret Domino, unus spiritus est" (1 Cor. 6:17). And the Redeemer said that in a soul that loves God, the whole Most Holy Trinity comes to dwell: "Si quis diligit me, Pater meus diliget eum... et ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus" (John 14:23).

So beautiful in the eyes of God is a soul in grace that God Himself praises it: "Quam pulchra es, amica mea! quam pulchra es!" (Song 4:1). From a soul that loves Him, the Lord seems unable to turn away His eyes or His ears for all that it asks. "Oculi Domini super iustos, et aures eius in preces eorum" (Ps. 33:16). St. Bridget said that if a man could see the beauty of a soul in the grace of God, he would die of joy. And St. Catherine of Siena, seeing once a soul in grace, said she would gladly have given her life so that that soul might not lose so great a beauty; and therefore the Saint kissed the ground where priests passed, thinking that through them souls are restored to the grace of God.

What acquisitions of merit, then, a soul in grace can make! At every moment it can gain an eternal glory. St. Thomas says that every act of love made by a soul merits a paradise in itself: "Quilibet actus caritatis meretur vitam aeternam." Why then do we envy the great ones of the world? If we are in the grace of God, we can continually acquire far greater glories in heaven. A certain lay brother of the Society of Jesus, as Father Patrignani writes in his Menologies, appeared after death and said that he was saved together with Philip II, King of Spain; and that both already enjoyed glory, but that as much lesser as he had been on earth than Philip, so much greater was he in paradise. Moreover, only one who experiences it can understand the peace that even in this world a soul enjoys that is in the grace of God. "Gustate, et videte, quam suavis est Dominus" (Ps. 33). The words of the Lord cannot fail: "Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam" (Ps. 118:165). The peace of one who is united with God surpasses all the pleasures that the senses and the world can give. "Pax Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum" (Phil. 4:7).

Affections and Prayers

O my Jesus, You are the good Shepherd who let Yourself be killed to give life to us, Your sheep. When I was fleeing from You, You did not cease to pursue me, seeking me. Receive me now that I seek You and, repentant, return to Your feet. Give me anew Your grace, which I have wretchedly lost through my own fault. I repent of it with all my heart; I could wish to die of sorrow, thinking of having so many times turned my back on You. Pardon me through the merits of the bitter death You suffered for me on the cross. Bind me with the sweet chains of Your love, and do not permit me to flee from You again. Give me strength to endure with patience all the crosses You send me, since I have deserved the eternal pains of hell. Grant that I may embrace with love the contempt I shall receive from men, since I have deserved to be under the feet of demons for eternity. Grant, in short, that I may obey all Your inspirations and overcome all human respect for love of You. I am resolved from this day forward to serve You alone; let others say what they will — I wish to love only You, O my most lovable God. You alone I wish to please; but give me Your help, without which I can do nothing. I love You, my Jesus, with all my heart, and I trust in Your blood.

Mary, my hope, help me with your prayers. I glory in being your servant; and you glory in saving the sinners who have recourse to you. Help me and save me.

Point III

Let us now see the misery of a soul in the disgrace of God. It is separated from its supreme Good, who is God. "Peccata vestra diviserunt inter vos, et Deum vestrum" (Is. 59:2). So it is no longer God's, and God is no longer its own: "Vos non populus meus, et ego non ero vester" (Hos. 1:9). Not only is it no longer His, but He hates it and condemns it to hell. The Lord does not hate any of His creatures, not even the wild beasts, the vipers, the toads: "Diligis omnia quae fecisti, et nihil odisti eorum quae fecisti" (Wis. 11:25). But God cannot help but hate sinners: "Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem" (Ps. 5:7). Yes, because God cannot but hate sin, which is the enemy wholly contrary to His will; and therefore, hating sin, He must necessarily hate also the sinner who is united with sin. "Similiter autem odio sunt Deo impius, et impietas eius" (Wis. 14:9).

O God, if someone has for an enemy a prince of this earth, he can never sleep peacefully, rightly fearing death at every moment. And he who has God for an enemy — how can he have peace? One may escape the anger of a prince by hiding in a forest, or by going far away to another kingdom; but who can escape the hands of God? Lord, said David, if I ascend to heaven, if I hide in hell, wherever I go, Your hand can reach me: "Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es, si descendero in infernum, ades. Etenim illuc manus tua deducet me" (Ps. 138:8).

Poor sinners! They are cursed by God, cursed by the angels, cursed by the Saints, cursed also on earth every day by all the priests and religious who proclaim the curse in reciting the divine office: "Maledicti qui declinant a mandatis tuis." Moreover, the disgrace of God means the loss of all merits. A man may have merited as much as a St. Paul the Hermit who lived ninety-eight years in a cave, as much as a St. Francis Xavier who gained ten million souls for God, as much as a St. Paul the Apostle who gained more merits (as St. Jerome says) than all the other apostles — if he commits a single mortal sin, he loses everything. "Omnes iustitiae eius, quas fecerat, non recordabuntur" (Ezek. 18). And behold the ruin that the disgrace of God brings: from a son of God it makes him a slave of Lucifer; from a beloved friend it makes him a most hated enemy; from an heir of paradise it makes him a condemned prisoner of hell. St. Francis de Sales said that if the angels could weep, in seeing the misery of a soul that commits a mortal sin and loses divine grace, the angels would begin to weep out of compassion.

But the greatest misery is that the angels would weep if they were capable of weeping, and the sinner does not weep. St. Augustine says: A man loses a little animal, a sheep — he does not eat, he does not sleep, he weeps. And he loses the grace of God, and he eats, sleeps, and does not weep.

Affections and Prayers

Behold the miserable state to which I have reduced myself, O my Redeemer. You, to make me worthy of Your grace, spent thirty-three years of toil and suffering; and I, for a moment of poisoned pleasure, have despised it and lost it for nothing. I thank Your mercy for still giving me time to recover it, if I wish. Yes, I wish to do all I can to have it again. Tell me what I must do to receive pardon from You. You wish me to repent? Yes, my Jesus, I repent with all my heart of having offended Your infinite goodness. You wish me to love You? I love You above all things. In the past I employed my heart too poorly in loving creatures and vanities. From this day forward I wish to live only for You, to love only You, my God, my treasure, my hope, and my strength. "Diligam te, Deus, fortitudo mea." Your merits, Your wounds, O my Jesus, are to be my hope, my strength. From You I hope for the strength to be faithful to You. Receive me, then, into Your grace, O my Savior, and do not permit me to leave You again. Detach me from worldly affections, and set my heart ablaze with Your holy love. "Tui amoris in eo ignem accende."

Mary, my Mother, make me burn with love for God, as you always burned.