GRACE: GOD'S MANY LOVING GESTURES RANDOMLY SENT TO US

 

"Grace!" We use that word a lot in the Catholic Christian faith, but what does it mean? Some have defined it as "Unmerited divine assistance granted to humans for their regeneration." I define it as God's loving gestures of help randomly sent to us for our growth.

In my 150 priest retreats in 10 countries, I always used an image from the old cowboy movies of my childhood. The good guys were often pictured holding up in a "hide out" surrounded by the bad guys when all of a sudden a rock comes crashing through the little window of their hideout with a note attached. I used it to talk about our relationship, not with an enemy, but with a loving God. When we are "stuck and surrounded," with no obvious "way out,"  God throws a rock through our windows with a message attached that says, "Here is the plan for your escape!" It is what I call a "moment of grace." It comes at crucial and unexpected moments offering a "way out" or a "way forward."   

I have experienced many of those "moments of grace" and I have documented many of them in my writing. No, God did not speak to me in a clear voice telling me what to do next or where to turn, but I have been amazed at how often in the last fifty years, a chance meeting, an unexpected event or even something as simple as a book new to me will cross my path and invite me into a new world or a new way of thinking. Without sounding overly pious, I feel that God was behind it each time. After all, the very meaning of the word "grace" means "a spontaneous free gift from God." I have also learned that for a "moment of grace" to be life-changing, God's invitation to change had to be accepted by me to be realized. I had to say "yes!" 

When one of those "moments of grace" involved a book, I have kept most of those old books and look through them and realize once again how much they had changed the direction of my life. When it has involved an unexpected event, I try to remember this tidbit of wisdom: "Breakdown is a sure sign of a breakthrough!" When it has involved a person, I try to thank them over and over again if they are alive or pray for them if they have died! 

I have come to realize as well that I am not special. Other people have had such "moments of grace." Some have responded, but many did not recognize them as such and therefore "threw the rock back out the window without reading the message attached" making me wonder how many such invitations to change I have missed along the way!  Yes, for a "moment of grace" to be life-changing, God's invitation to change has to be accepted to be realized. One has to say "yes" to those invitations for needed change to come about!