A grace magnet or grace blocker?
Photo Wilhering Abbey Austria by Stift Innenraum-Wikimedia
As a young adult I began hearing people talk about the family of choice—our friends. The notion is that we get to choose our friends and they become our family. The implication is that we don’t get to choose our real families and so we are ‘stuck’ with them. An assumption is that we can cease being part of the birth family when we replace it with enough friends.
“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid’ (Albert Einstein)
No family is perfect, and it seems today few are even functional. Too many homes are places of extreme pain. Yet we were born into this family, and it is a family of gift. We are called not only to desire our own salvation but also that of those around us; to ‘sanctify’ the unbelievers through our prayers (1Cor 7:14). To desire our whole family be in Heaven together, regardless of how we’ve been treated in this life.
Some time ago, I came to realize that a huge deficit existed on my prayer account, and it was owed to certain members of my family of gift. They certainly had preoccupied my thoughts many times over the years. But those were thoughts spent in anger or pain, not prayer. What might have been the outcome had I instead prayed without judgement for them? I cannot change the past but I can change me today, asking God that I may truly desire they (and I) bask in His glory in Heaven.
This extends to our worldwide family too. Catholic Christians are martyred and persecuted overseas. Here in the US we suffer a ‘martyrdom’ of blatant discrimination. At the same time, the Marxist terrorist group Black Lives Matter and terrorists Antifa are permitted to run amuck in many cities. What if our anger or fear were instead turned to prayer for their salvation, that of the victims as well as their persecutors? And if we shared this perspective with others around us, more might begin to pray that hate turn to love.
Meanwhile, division is growing within our American church family; people are in an uproar over how to react. Rather than greater reliance on God, people are relying more and more upon themselves to ‘figure out’ that which they think is the answer. God permits these times not only for us to see and stop our sin but, more importantly, for a conversion of heart. After all, an atheist can choose not to sin; that alone does not bring salvation. Our conversion affects others. We know by faith that our personal holiness brings Jesus actively in the world. Being His hands and feet is not a metaphor. It is an actuality as He uses us more fully as His instrument.
We must personally decide whether to be a grace vessel or a grace blocker. There is no partiality in God. He can only give of Himself 100%. The reason we do not receive the effects of that 100% is in us, not Him.
The place to start is by improving our relationship with our Holy Family: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Embrace the truth that the Trinity is your true family. The universal call to holiness to which we are each obligated came to us through our baptism. The path to spiritual growth is given to us by Jesus and taught by our saints. Jesus demonstrated it by spending regular silent prayer alone with the Father in ‘the lonely places’. For us, honest mental prayer builds that relationship and the daily examen unveils how to live in it.
We then extend this to our family of gift. Mother Mary and St. Joseph teach us how to love others through prayer, even if physical distance from them is necessary for safety. Ask for the desire to love them, and then for the love to give to them, followed with a true and fervent desire for their salvation. This simple 3-part daily prayer can be surprisingly life changing.
Our mystical family in Christ needs our holiness too. In our confirmation, Jesus personally commissioned us to a Divine office of intercessory prayer. It is a solemn obligation that comes with special graces specific to this office. We need to be cognizant of this throughout our day and ask God for these graces to be active in the moment.
Faith is the gate through which grace enters. It unleashes the power of our sacraments. Christ’s exercising of His omnipotence on earth is conditioned by our faith. Elisha, inheriting Elijah’s cloak, received double the power due to his faith. Faith is not just belief; Satanists believe in God. To be faith, that belief must be born from a desire and love of God. As snags and stumbles present themselves during the day, and sensational opinions tempt to form your thinking, simply and steadfastly choose to be a grace magnet instead of a grace blocker. Grace will reign upon our entire Catholic family and, through us, the world.
Prayer for Peace
O God, Creator of the universe, who extends your paternal concern over every creature and guides the events of history to the goal of salvation,
we acknowledge your fatherly love when you break the resistance of mankind and, in a world torn by strife and discord, you make us ready for reconciliation.
Renew for us the wonders of your mercy; send forth your Spirit that he may work in the intimacy of hearts,
that enemies may begin to dialogue, that adversaries may shake hands and peoples may encounter one another in harmony.
May all commit themselves to the sincere search for true peace which will extinguish all arguments, for charity which overcomes hatred, for pardon which disarms revenge.
(St. John Paul II)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊