As Christ Loved the Church

For the grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of the great God
and of our savior Jesus Christ- Titus 2:11-13

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that grace is “favor, the free and underserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (CCC 1996).  Regis University, a Jesuit University, constantly asks its students to consider the question, “How ought we to live?”  Our lives depend on God’s grace.  It is God who breathes new life into our bodies so that we can live lives of faith, hope and love. 

The Holy Spirit gives us the strength in our baptism and sealed in our confirmation to have that strength which only God can give to reject sin and live in such a way that brings honor and glory to God.  But this strength, this grace, is a gift which means that it has to be accepted.  This is in line with God’s gift to us of free will.  God is our father and he teaches us the truth about honor and dignity.  God does not force us to follow his will like a dictator but expresses true fatherhood in giving us the ability and intellect to choose him above all else.  Our choices demonstrate our will.  Our voices only affirm our actions and behavior.  We can speak words of hope just as we can speak words that wound.  Our choices made in free will are what make us who we are. 

Choice is a gift often taken for granted.  During this year of faith, let us not take for granted the choices we make daily.  Placing our lives before the Lord and offering our souls in selfless service to our God, our Church and our communities is a choice that encourages hope.  We choose to live.  We choose to love. 

Faith gives us the ability to ‘await the blessed hope…of our savior Jesus Christ.”  This hope is based in the truth that though we die, we live because Jesus died and rose from the dead.  So we believe and we hope.  

This year of faith is the opportunity to embrace our beliefs with renewed vigor.  The Church stands against the culture of our time, not because she seeks to deprive us of life and freedom but so that we may have life and have it to the fullest (cf John 10:10).  So we ought to live in a manner that shows that we have life.  Jesus Christ gave his life in love for all.  And we should love as Christ loves the Church (cf Ephesians 5:25).