Catholic Faith Refresher Course

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (1 Cor. 16:23)

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT: We hear so often of God's grace. We know that grace makes the soul so beautiful that the soul becomes like God and so delights God that it is most dearly loved by Him. It is adopted as His child and spouse and is elevated from earth to heaven. By grace the soul is received into the bosom of the eternal Father; and with Jesus Christ, the Divine Son, that soul participates in the very nature of God even while on this earth.

St. Thomas teaches that the whole world itself and all the world contains, is of far less value before God than the grace in a single soul. St John Chrysostom teaches that it is greater to revive a mortally wounded soul than a dead body. I am tempted, therefore, to say that this is the most important lesson in the whole series of instructions for a convert. Let me say, at least, that there is no lesson more important. No one can understand sin, heaven, hell, purgatory, the redemption and Sacraments without a clear understanding of grace. No one can understand Christianity itself without a clear understanding of grace. Christianity is a supernatural religion; therefore, you must be very sure that you understand this lesson. This is the lesson you must review every day from now until the end of your instructions.

A. GOD MADE YOU TO BRING YOU TO HEAVEN

God made you to know, love and serve Him in this world, so that you might share in His happiness in heaven. God made you to be happy with Him forever in heaven. This is the purpose, the reason why you are living. You were made ultimately for nothing else, neither riches, nor fame! If you don't fulfill this purpose in your life, you are a failure. You may die rich or famous, but if you don't get to heaven and share God's happiness, then you are the worst kind of a failure. You are just like a burned-out light bulb. You are good for nothing. So it is very important for you to know how to get to heaven. That's what we are going to teach in this lesson.

B. IF YOU ARE TO GET INTO HEAVEN A DIFFERENT KIND OF LIFE IS REQUIRED

If you are to get into heaven, something extra is needed even here below. You are not able to share in God's happiness in heaven if you remain a mere, ordinary human being here on earth. In order to share in the happiness of another, it is necessary to share in his very life. To share in God's happiness you must have the same kind of life that God has.

C. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF LIFE.  If we study for a few minutes the different kinds of life, from the lowest to the highest, we might get an idea of what it means for a man to have the kind of life God has. The lowest kind of natural life is plant life (a tree). A tree grows and reproduces,- that's about all! The next kind of life as we go from lower to higher is animal life (a dog). A dog can see, hear, smell feel, and move about. Let's go higher in the scale of life. A man (human being) has a higher kind of life than a dog. Man is an animal, but an animal with a spiritual soul. He can do everything a dog can do. Moreover, he can do spiritual things because he has a spiritual soul. He can think, choose to act or not to act. He can choose between good and evil. He has a life higher than the life of a brute animal. He has a spiritual life. Let's go up the scale of life into an even higher kind of life than a man has: angelic life. The life of angels. An angel 's life is all spiritual. He has no body. But the highest kind of life is God. ; life. God's life is perfect. lt is limitless, uncreated life. It never had a beginning-it shall have no end. It depends on nothing outside of itself. It is a life of perfect beauty and untold happiness.

D. THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD'S LIFE AND MAN'S LIFE

Man's life is created by God -it is limited. It had a beginning, it depends completely on God. It could not live without God. In fact, there is more difference between God's life and man's life than between a dog's life and a man's life. God's life is completely different. It is unlimited. It had no beginning, it depends on no one.

E. FOR A DOG TO ENJOY A BOOK, MOVIE OR TELEVISION, GOD WOULD HAVE TO GIVE IT A MAN'S LIFE  Let's talk about dogs for a minute. Can a dog enjoy a book, movie, radio or TV program? Can a dog enjoy a conversation?

Why not? Supposing God wanted a dog to enjoy the things a man enjoys? What would God have to do? The dog, if he remains a mere dog, cannot share in the happiness of man. He doesn't have the equipment (a soul). He has a lower kind of life than a man. So, God would have to raise the dog up to man's level. God would have to give the dog something that dogs naturally don't have. God would have to give that dog a sharing in man's life. The dog would still stay a dog, have a dog's kind of life, but it would now be able to share in man's happiness (books, TV). A new kind of life would be added to his dog's kind of life.

F. TO SHARE IN GOD'S HAPPINESS, A MAN MUST HAVE GOD'S LIFE

Why can't man, if he remains a mere man, share in God's happiness? Because man has a much lower kind of life than God; and God would have to raise man up from man's level to His own level. God would have to give man a sharing in His kind of life. This sharing in God's life is called grace. You now have two kinds of life in your soul: your own life plus a sharing in God's life. Grace is a new kind of life added to your soul.

.'You maybe made partakers of the divine nature."

How important you are! God reaches down, brings you up to His level and makes you like Himself. "We shall be like him." (1 John 3:2). God could give you no greater gift than this.

G. YOU CANNOT GET INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT GRACE

Just as it has been impossible for a dog to share in man's happiness without having a sharing in man's life, so it is just as impossible for man to share in God's happiness without first sharing in God's life; that is, unless he has grace.

Remember the story of the wedding garment in the Gospel when the King (God) saw the man at the table without a wedding garment (grace). He called His servant (angel) to throw the man into the darkness outside (hell).

I cannot live underwater without special equipment (diving suit). I cannot live in a fiery furnace without special equipment (fireproof suit). I cannot live in heaven without special equipment (grace).

H. NO ONE HAS GRACE WHEN HE IS CREATED

All human beings come into this world without grace. Grace is put in later. A newborn baby does not have grace in his soul. The only human being created with grace (since Adam and Eve) was the Blessed Virgin Mary .the mother of Jesus Christ. We shall study this in a later lesson.

I. BAPTISM GIVES YOU GRACE FOR THE FIRST TIME. Jesus said: "Unless a man be born again. he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). "Unless he be born again," that is, receive a new life, grace, be born spiritually, reborn, regenerated. Once you have the grace. you can make it grow in your soul. Holy Communion, the other Sacraments. prayer and good works all make it grow. This is important to know because. as we shall see in the lesson on heaven, the more grace I have in my soul when I die. the greater will be my capacity for happiness in heaven.

For example: two men die at the same time; one has a little bit of grace in his soul. the other has a lot of grace in his soul; the first man will not have as much happiness in heaven as the other man. because he does not have the same capacity for happiness. So, the important thing in life is to get grace in your soul before you die. and let the grace grow in your soul as much as you can before death.

J. A BIG SIN KILLS THE GRACE IN YOUR SOUL

Any big sin (impurity, missing Mass on Sunday) kills the grace in your soul. A big sin does not kill the natural life of your soul, only the grace. But this death to grace is worse than any other kind of death. We shall study sin and see what it is in a later lesson. If you die with a big sin on your soul, you shall go to hell, because you have deliberately killed the grace in your soul.

K. GRACE IS SOMETHING SPIRITUAL. You can't see it, hear it, feel it, smell it, touch it, or taste it. It is just as spiritual as your soul, or as an angel or a thought. It can't be weighed, measured or cut up into pieces. No one can take it out of your soul but you yourself, and then only through a big sin. It is one treasure that cannot be stolen.

Let it be absolutely clear that you cannot feel grace in any way. A religious feeling, a good feeling, a religious experience does not in any way indicate the presence of grace in the soul. That "good feeling" may come from good digestion, or sleep or nice weather. That religious feeling or experience may come from hearing a beautiful hymn or sermon. Feelings come and go; one day you are up and the next day you are down. Does that mean that one day you have grace and the next day you do not? An old person dying of a painful disease may have plenty of grace but he may feel terrible. A person being baptized with the right intention is went assured from the promises of Christ that he is getting grace, buthe may never have any religious feeling resulting from Baptism. On the other hand, a great sinner may be moved to tears upon hearing the organ in a church. An you know is that you get grace through Baptism; you make it grow through the other Sacraments; you lose it through a big sin.

L. UNBAPTIZED BABIES No one can get into heaven without grace. All babies are conceived and born without grace. Babies have to be baptized to get grace. If a baby dies without having been baptized, it cannot go to heaven, because it has no grace. It does not however go to hell. A baby who dies without Baptism goes to Limbo. He will never get to heaven. Limbo is a place of natural happiness in the next world. In Limbo there is no pain, sickness or sorrow. The happiness of Limbo is however, strictly on man’s level, whereas the happiness of heaven is on God's level. A baby who has not been raised to God's level through grace cannot share in God's happiness. But the happiness of Limbo is probably greater than any that can be experienced on this earth. The babies in Limbo never know about heaven and so they don't miss it .

God is not cruel or unjust in not allowing unbaptized babies to go to heaven, it is not God's fault. Grace is a pure gift on God's part; He does not have to give it to anyone of us on our own conditions. He gives it through Baptism. Unbaptized adults do not go to Limbo, only unbaptized babies. An adult who, through his own fault, neglects to be baptized goes to hell. Before the coming of Jesus, an adult who died without a big sin on his soul went to the Limbo of the just [Abraham's bosom] {Luke 16:22). When Jesus died all the adults in Limbo learned of the liberation. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he took all those adults to heaven.

M. GRACE IS THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL

No amount of money can buy grace. Grace is worth more than all the riches of the world. It is the pearl of great price. Grace is true wealth; grace is your passport to heaven, the key to lasting happiness. Continue with your instructions so that you can learn more about grace, how to get it, how to make it grow in your soul, and how to keep from losing it.

Nothing else in life really matters.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW OF THIS LESSON

I. What is grace?                                        2. Can you get to heaven without grace?

3. How do you usually receive grace for the first time?

4. How do you lose grace?                       5. Can you see or feel grace in your soul?

6. What is heaven?                                  

7. Who goes to heaven?

8. What is the big happiness in heaven?