The Work of Grace
The Work of Grace
Today I would like to speak to you about the life of grace—the grace that moved the heart of the Bride in the Song of Songs, causing her to rise from her bed and seek her Beloved…
What is this grace? Why does God give us grace? What should be our موقف toward it? What are the المجالات of its work? How does it appear? And when?
The Work of Grace
What is Grace:
Grace is a divine power that surrounds man, and a divine work that supports him in his life; a divine help that upholds the weak will and the frail nature. It is the tender educator that nurtures the heart, the mind, and the senses in the life of the Spirit. And grace—linguistically—is a favor from God by which He grants man what his will is unable to accomplish.
The first grace God gave us is the grace of existence, then another grace in creating us in His image and likeness, then all the gifts He grants us.
Thus all gifts fall under the work of grace:
For example, a person to whom God has granted intelligence, or beauty, or imagination, or calmness of temperament… or any spiritual gift of the Spirit, for grace gives gifts. In summary, all lofty and sublime matters that are above the limits of human will fall within grace…
Even worldly wealth and material blessings, people call them grace.
They say that someone lives in grace, or that the signs of grace are upon him. All that God has bestowed upon man is included within it.
Grace may be a spiritual work: leading a person to repentance, stirring within him a longing toward God, kindling in him love for God and love for goodness, encouraging him in the Lord’s way, or giving him fervor in prayer or fervor in service.
Why Were We Given Grace?
Because our enemy is strong, and our nature is weaker than he…
Satan has an angelic nature. He was an angel. In his fall he lost his holiness, but he did not lose his nature. As for us, the psalm says about us: “You have made him a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8:5).
With his angelic nature, Satan has power. The Apostle Peter said of him that our adversary is “like a roaring lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
In the story of Job the righteous, we see how Satan brought down houses, scattered possessions, and caused the death of the children. He struck Job with painful boils from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. And it was said of the sin he causes: “She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men” (Prov. 7:26).
If our enemy is of such strength, then surely our earthly nature cannot suffice by itself. Therefore it needs the help of grace.
The Lord Himself knows this, and therefore said to us with complete frankness: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Because of the importance of grace, the Church asks it for us in the blessing that the priest gives to the faithful at the end of every meeting, saying: “The love of God the Father, the grace of His only-begotten Son, and the communion and gift of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Among the most beautiful expressions that show the sufficiency and power of grace is the Lord’s word to the Apostle Paul concerning his thorn: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Truly this grace suffices, and with it we lack nothing…
Grace is given to sinners to help them repent; it is given to unbelievers to accept the faith. It is given to the weak to grant them strength. Yet it is not limited to supporting only the weak and sinners…
Grace is also necessary for the saints. By it the saints grow in righteousness and holiness. By this grace the righteous serve the message of the Kingdom…
Grace gives greater capabilities, new energies, and forward impulses. It is the secret of the strength of the strong. If the strong do not abide in grace, they lose their strength… as happened to Samson…
The Fields of the Work of Grace:
Grace works in every sacrament of the Church and gives to each who receives the sacrament an invisible gift…
For this reason we baptize infants, not only for their eternity, but also so that we may not deprive them of the grace of the holy sacraments.
For this reason also, the one who perseveres in the Church and her sacraments receives great graces whose effect he feels in his life and growth…
In the sacrament of Baptism we receive the grace of adoption, the grace of new birth and the washing away of our sins, renewal and purification, and we become members in the Body of Christ.
In the sacrament of Chrism we receive the anointing of the Spirit and steadfastness in it.
In the sacrament of Confession we receive the grace of forgiveness and repentance.
In the sacrament of Communion we receive forgiveness, salvation, and abiding in the Lord.
In the sacrament of Priesthood we receive the grace of binding and loosing and authority from the Lord.
Thus in every sacrament we take a special grace, a special blessing; a hidden power from God flows within us…
Just as grace comes to us through the Church sacraments, it also comes through the intercessions of the saints, through the prayers of the Church, through the رضى of parents, the رضى of spiritual fathers, and through the prayers of the poor to whom we do good…
Grace comes to us through prayer, and it also comes as a free gift without our asking.
Often grace comes to us without our asking.
Among the examples of this is the lost sheep, which in the depth of its wandering found a compassionate heart that took hold of it and carried it on his shoulders rejoicing.
Saul of Tarsus, in the depth of persecuting the Church, without praying or asking for grace, grace met him on the road, and he heard the voice of the Lord saying to him: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5).
Abraham, while stretching out his hand to slaughter Isaac, grace came to him without his asking and restrained his hand from harming the lad.
Levi (Matthew), while in the tax office, was visited by grace without any request and was brought out of that place to become an apostle. Moses, while walking in the wilderness, was visited by grace and called to be a prophet.
Thus you also, in a moment you do not know, find a feeling in your heart calling you to God, and you find yourself inflamed without your will.
In a certain moment you hear God’s voice in your heart; you find yourself freed from the love of sin and no longer longing for it…
What then is your موقف toward this grace?
Our موقف toward Grace
First: Seek this grace with all your strength and full conviction…
Cling to the Lord and say to Him: Without You, O Lord, I can do nothing. Give me Your grace. Give me grace to overcome, grace to serve You, grace to strengthen me, and grace to purify me.
Feel the value of grace in your life. Chant with David the psalm of grace:
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive… Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 124).
Yes, what can this poor bird do? Can it break the snare? Or resist? No…
Therefore he did not say, “If I had resisted…” but rather, “If the Lord had not been with us.” I? Who am I? I was “pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.” “The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long,” and I did not overcome them by my strength, but “The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.”
Without God’s grace we would all have perished; unless the Lord had left us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah—a remnant of life, a remnant of modesty, a remnant of number…
Grace is the greatest weapon against weakness and despair…
It is the help of the one who has no helper, the hope of the one who has no hope, the comfort of the fainthearted, the harbor of those in the storm.
This grace visits every person. There is no one whom grace has not visited. It visits all, going about doing good.
The important thing is: when grace comes to you, surrender to it; open your heart to it; cooperate with it in the work. Do not quench the Spirit, and do not grieve the Spirit. As the Apostle says:
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:15).
Do not act like Samaria in its early days, when Christ came to it and it shut its doors in His face. Do not act like the Bride in the Song of Songs who was sluggish in opening to her Beloved when He knocked at her door, and then greatly regretted and said: “My Beloved turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when He spoke” (Song 5:6).
How many people were visited by grace and did not respond, and the opportunity was lost. God knocked at their door, and they did not perceive it, or they perceived and did not care. As the Scripture says: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). These did not feel. But of others it was said: “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
Many did not accept grace when it came to them. Of them it was said: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).
Grace comes to you, but it does not cancel your will. You remain free—to accept it or not accept it. It knocks at your door, and you open or you do not open…
Yet many of those who refused the work of grace were visited again by grace… When Samaria shut its doors in the face of Christ, He did not reject it forever. Rather, He returned to it again and saved it. And He commanded His disciples to bear witness to Him in Samaria…
Grace visited the thief on the right while he was hanging on the cross. He could have perished, but grace visited him in the last opportunity…
Many were snatched by grace from the fire and were not burned…
Even the one who ignores it hears: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5). Yes, grace pricks the heart and the conscience, and it is stirred. As was said about those who heard Peter on the day of Pentecost, that they were “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37).
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