My Grace is Sufficient For You

Hello everyone!

Zeteo is just a week away, please mark it on your calendars. I hope to see many of your smiling faces there!

Just a sidenote, I just finished the post for this week, and realized I still did not have room in this post to talk about the daily reflection of St. Ignatius Loyola. You know what that means, another post next week. And I know, what that means for me.

I have been feeling like it would be hypocritical for me to write about this reflection without first exercising it in my own life. So my mission for this week is to do just that: to use the daily examine in my daily prayer life, and write about it from experience.

God bless,

Olivia Fischer

Week 3: My Grace Is Sufficient For You 

Todays blog is going to be short and sweet. I have saved my favourite parts from Father Carlos' talk until last, just like I save my favourite parts of my meal until the last bite.

Father Carlos spoke of how Saint Catherine of Siena implored us to look at our sins only through the Blood of Christ. It is through the Blood of Christ that we are sanctified, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:7, "In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace."

As Father Carlos articulated, without the Blood of Christ - through which our sins are already forgiven, our sin is far too depressing. Looking at our sins through the Blood of Christ, like mercy-goggles, we see God's goodness. Instead of seeing our sins coloured by guilt - which I talked about in this blog as a debilitating sin for its capacity to keep us from grace, we see our sinful natures with hope. God can turn all things to good - our tendency toward sin can be an avenue for God to help us to grow.

In fact, my favourite Bible verse talks about sin and grace in a profound way. 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 1:9

We can boast in our weakness, not because of arrogance, but because God has promised to work in us. With humility, God's strength can transform our weakness. 

At the Family Life Conference, one of the speakers (possibly Scott Hahn) said something that really resounded with me. "Why are we walking around defeated, when He is already victorious?" In my last blog, I spoke about wearing the Armour of God because we are in a daily battle. What does it mean to still be in a battle, if Christ is already victorious? 

Catherine of Siena calls Jesus our bridge. This image is both vertical - the bridge carries us over the water that would pull us under, and horizontal - the bridge spans the distance between heaven and earth. The fact that Christ is already victorious means that this bridge is already constructed. However, the river remains, as does our need to complete the journey set before us. The battle rages on: it is our choice to don the Armour of God, to journey with Christ on the bridge, or to drown and not ascend the bridge.

He is already victorious. Why are we walking around defeated, drowning in the river and our weakness?

Now, if God is victorious, if we have the Armour of God, why do we still suffer? 

That is a whole other difficult topic I cannot hope to understand well enough to write about at this time. However, we know that we do not suffer alone. 

On the cross, Jesus says something that has always confused me until Father Carlos explained His words - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mark 15: 34, this way: Jesus became truly human - he experienced pain, emotion, fear, just as we do. He did not have to suffer, but he did. It is through his suffering we are given the perfect example of how we can suffer. As we journey the bridge with him, he is suffering along with us. His words on the cross were him saying those words with us when we feel desolate.

He has not forsaken us, this we know with assurance. His grace is sufficient for us when we may feel that we are drowning, that we are failing, that we are too guilty for his mercy. The Cross stretches between heaven and earth as a bridge, it is only through his mercy that this bridge exists, we can do nothing to deserve it.

It is arrow pointing us: we know where we come from, and where we are going. As we continue on this journey, this daily battleground, we know we must still endure suffering, though we do not suffer alone. With faith, and trust in our Lord, we know that we will not be overcome, for he is already victorious.