Catechism of the Catholic Church
§2010 Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God’s wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions.
Paragraph 2010 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights three relevant theological aspects regarding grace.
In the first place, it emphasizes the importance of ardently seeking it because, being a gift from God, it frees us from sin and strengthens us in the practice of virtues, so that we may attain eternal life.
In the second place, this paragraph points out that temporal goods – health, friendship, professional success, material comfort, and many others – “can be merited in accordance with God’s wisdom.” Someone will probably ask: how do we know the criterion of divine wisdom so that we may merit such goods? The answer is simple.
St. Ignatius of Loyola1 teaches a rule of discernment called to the degree that, which exhorts us to use the things of this world to the degree that they help us to fulfil our ultimate end, that is, to love and serve God and, by this means, save our souls.
Therefore, to the degree that material goods prevent us from reaching this final goal, we should set them aside. In short, we are invited to ask for graces to accept God’s wise and holy will, and thus achieve our purpose.
Finally, this paragraph teaches us that, regarding both spiritual and temporal goods, we should always ask for them through prayer. Comparing Himself to a vine, Our Lord declares: “He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).
Therefore, as branches of this divine vine, we will only produce spiritual fruits and meritorious works by lovingly linking ourselves to Jesus. And this link is established through prayer, which obtains for us the graces to persevere in the practice of good.
Indeed, it is a truth of the Catholic Faith that we have an urgent need to pray. To such an extent that St. Alphonsus Liguori affirms that the undeserved grace of our eternal salvation depends on our prayers. Here is his famous maxim: “He who prays is certainly saved; he who does not pray is certainly condemned.”2 And he adds: “All the blessed, except children, were saved by prayer. All the condemned were lost because they did not pray; if they had prayed, they would not have been lost.”3
With regard to this exalted perspective, let us invoke Mary Most Holy, whose power of intercession is infallible. Truly, there is no grace that She cannot obtain for us in a maternal and merciful way from her Divine Son Jesus. ◊
Notes
1 Cf. ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. Spiritual exercises, n.23.
2 ST. ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI. Del gran mezzo della preghiera. Parte prima, c.1.
3 Idem, ibidem.
