|
We are thus able to appreciate something of the importance of true
conversion, by which a man passes from the state of mortal sin to
the state of grace. In the former state his energies were
dissipated and he was indifferent in regard to God; now he loves
God more than he loves himself, more than he loves anything else;
at any rate he esteems God beyond all earthly things, even though
his love of God may not be free from all selfish motives. The
state of sin was a state of spiritual death; a state in which,
more or less consciously, he made himself the centre of all his
activities and the end of all his desires; in which he was
actually the slave of everything, the slave of his passions, of
the spirit of the world, of the spirit of evil. The state of
grace, on the other hand, is a state of life in which man begins
seriously to tend beyond himself and to make God the centre of his
activities, loving God more than himself. The state of grace is
entrance into the kingdom of God, where the docile soul begins to
reign with God over its own passions, over the spirit of the world
and the spirit of evil.
We may well understand, therefore, how St. Thomas could write:
|
'Bonum gratiae unius majus est quam bonum naturae totius universi'
|
|
The lowest degree of grace in a soul, for example in that of a
small child after its baptism, is of greater value than the
natural goodness of the whole universe. This grace alone is worth
more than all created natures together, including even the angelic
natures. For the angels, too, stood in need, not of redemption,
but of the gratuitous gift of grace in order to tend to the
supernatural beatitude to which God called them. St. Augustine
says that when God created the nature of the angels He also gave
them the gift of grace:
|
'Simul in eis condens naturam et largiens
gratiam ';[35]
|
|
and he maintains that
|
'the justification of the
ungodly is something greater than the creation of heaven and
earth, greater even than the creation of the angels.' [36]
|
|
St. Thomas adds:
|
'The justification of the sinner is
proportionately more precious than the glorification of the just;
because the gift of grace more greatly transcends the state of the
sinner, who is deserving of punishment, than the gift of glory
transcends the state of the just man, who, by reason of his
justification, is worthy of the gift of glory.' [37]
|
|
There is a
much greater distance between the nature of man, or even between
the nature of the highest of the angels, and grace, than there is
between grace itself and glory. No created nature, however
perfect, is the germ of grace, whereas grace is indeed the germ or
the seed of eternal life, semen gloriae. Hence when a sinner is
absolved in the confessional, an event occurs which is
proportionately of greater importance than the entrance of a just
soul into heaven.
This doctrine is expressed by Pascal in one of the finest pages of
his Pensees, a page which summarises the teaching of St. Augustine
and St. Thomas on this point:
|
'The infinite distance which
separates bodies from spirits is a symbol of the infinitely more
infinite distance which separates spirits from charity, for
charity is supernatural. [38] The whole of the material creation
together, the firmament, the stars, the earth and its kingdoms, is
inferior to the least of the spirits; for he knows all this and he
knows himself, whereas bodies know nothing. All bodies together,
and all spirits together, and all that they can produce, are of
less value than the smallest act of charity, because this is of an
infinitely higher order. From all bodies together it would be
impossible to extract a single thought, because a thought is of a
higher order than they. From all bodies and all spirits together
it would be impossible to extract one single act of true charity,
because an act of charity is of the supernatural order.' [39]
|
|
Luther erred fundamentally, therefore, when he tried to explain
justification, not by the infusion of a grace and charity which
remit sin, but merely by faith in Christ, without works and
without love; making it consist simply in the extrinsic imputation
of the merits of Christ, an imputation which covers sins without
destroying them, and thus leaves the sinner in his filth and
corruption. According to his view there was no regeneration of the
will by the supernatural love of God and men. We have seen, on the
contrary, what is the teaching of the Scriptures and of Tradition.
Faith and the extrinsic imputation of the justice of Christ are
not sufficient for the justification or conversion of the sinner.
He must be willing, in addition, to observe the commandments,
above all the two great commandments of the love of God and the
love of one's neighbour:
|
'If any one love me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our
abode with him.' [40]
|
|
|
'He that abideth in charity abideth in God,
and God in him.' [41]
|
|
According to the true teaching of Christ we are in an order far
transcending natural morality. Our unaided reason tells us that it
is our duty to love God, the author of our nature, and to love Him
effectively, that is, by observing His commandments. But even this
natural duty we are unable to fulfil without the help of God's
grace, so weakened are our wills in consequence of original sin.
Still less are we able by our natural powers alone to love God,
the author of grace; for this love is of an essentially
supernatural order, as supernatural for the angels as it is for
us.
Such is the supernatural life which we received in Baptism; and
this is what constitutes our interior life.
This beginning of eternal life, as we have called it, is a
complete spiritual organism, which has to grow and develop until
we enter heaven. The root principle of this undying organism is
sanctifying grace, received in the very essence of the soul; and
this grace would last for ever, were it not that sin, a radical
disorder in the soul, sometimes destroys it. [42] From sanctifying
grace, which is the germ of glory, proceed the infused virtues.
First, the theological virtues, the greatest of which, charity, is
destined to last for ever.
|
'Charity never falleth away,'
|
|
says St.
Paul, ...
|
'Now there remain faith, hope and charity, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity.' [43]
|
|
Charity will remain
for ever, after faith has disappeared to make room for vision;
after hope has been displaced by the everlasting possession of
God, seen face to face.
In addition to the theological virtues there are also the infused
moral virtues, which perfect man in his use of the means of
salvation, just as the former dispose him rightly in regard to his
end. The infused moral virtues are like so many functions
admirably adapted one to another, infinitely surpassing in
perfection those of our physical organism; they are called-
prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance... together with the
other virtues which are associated with them.
Finally, in order to supply the deficiencies of these virtues
which, in the twilight of faith and under the direction of
prudence, still act in too human a fashion, we are given the seven
gifts of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us. These are like the
sails on a ship; they dispose us to receive obediently and
promptly the breathing that comes from on high, the special
inspirations of God; inspirations which enable us to act, no
longer in merely human fashion, but divinely, with that alacrity
which we need in order to run in the way of God, undismayed by any
obstacles.
All these infused virtues and gifts grow with sanctifying grace
and charity, says St. Thomas ;[44] they increase together just as
the five fingers of the hand, or the organs of our body, develop
simultaneously. Thus it is inconceivable that a soul should
possess a high degree of charity without possessing at the same
time a proportionate degree of the gift of wisdom; whether this
exist under a definitely contemplative form, or in a practical
guise, more directly adapted to action. The wisdom of a St.
Vincent de Paul is unlike that of a St. Augustine; but the one and
the other are equally infused.
In this way the whole of the spiritual organism develops
simultaneously, though it may manifest its activity under various
forms. And, from this point of view, since the infused
contemplation of the mysteries of faith is an act of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost, an act which disposes the soul to the beatific
vision, must we not admit that such contemplation is in the normal
way of sanctity?. -- We merely mention the question here, without
insisting further upon it. [45]
Let us now examine more closely the full development of our
eternal life in heaven, in order that we may better appreciate the
value of that sanctifying grace which is its beginning. In
particular let us compare it with what would have been our
beatitude and our reward if we had been created in a purely
natural state.
If we had been created in a state of pure nature, with a spiritual
and immortal soul, but without the life of grace, even then our
intellect would have been made for the knowledge of the True and
our will for the love of the Good. Our end would have been to know
God, the Sovereign Good, the author of our nature, and to love Him
above all things. But we should have known Him only in the
reflection of His goodness in creatures, in the same way as the
greatest among the pagan philosophers knew Him, though our
knowledge would have been more certain than theirs, and free from
any admixture of error. God would have been for us the First Cause
and the Supreme Intelligence that orders all the things of
creation.
We should have loved Him as the author of our nature, with that
love which a subject has for his superior. It would not have been
a love of friendship, but rather a sentiment compounded of
admiration, respect and gratitude, yet lacking that happy and
simple familiarity which rejoices the hearts of the children of
God. We should have been God's servants, but not His children.
This natural end is already a sublime destiny. It could never
bring satiety, just as the eye never tires of contemplating the
blue vault of heaven. Moreover, it is a spiritual end, and
therefore, unlike material goods, can be possessed at once by all
and by each, without possession on the part of one being
prejudicial to possession on the part of another, and thus without
causing jealousy or discord.
But this abstract and mediate knowledge of God would have left
many obscurities in the human mind, especially as regards the
mutual compatibility of the divine perfections. We should forever
have remained at the stage of counting singly and enumerating
these absolute perfections; we should forever have wondered how it
was possible to reconcile the almighty goodness of God with His
permission that evil should exist; an evil, too, which is
sometimes so great as to disconcert the human mind. We should have
asked ourselves, moreover, how His infinite mercy could be truly
consistent with His infinite justice. Even though we enjoyed this
natural beatitude, we should still be urged to say:
|
'If only I
could see this God, who is the source of all truth and goodness;
if I could see Him as He sees Himself!'
|
|
What the most brilliant of human minds, what even the intelligence
of the angels could never have discovered, divine Revelation has
disclosed to us. Revelation tells us that our last end is
essentially supernatural and that it consists in seeing God
immediately, face to face, as He is: sicuti est
|
'(God) has
predestinated (us) to be made conformable to the image of his Son;
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.' [46]
|
|
|
'Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the
heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love
him. [47]
|
|
We are destined to see God, not merely in the mirror of creatures,
however perfect these may be, but to see Him immediately, without
the intermediary of any creature, and even without the medium of
any created idea; for no created idea, however perfect, could ever
represent as He really is One who is Thought itself, infinite
Truth, the eternally subsistent brightness of intelligence and the
living flame of measureless Love.
We are destined to see all the divine perfections concentrated and
intimately united in their common source: Deity. We are destined
to see how the tenderest Mercy and the most inexorable Justice
proceed from the one Love which is infinitely generous and
infinitely holy; how this Love, even in its freest choice, is
identically one with pure Wisdom, how there is nothing in the
divine Love which is not wise, nothing in the divine Wisdom which
is not synonymous with Love. We are destined to contemplate the
eminent simplicity of God, His absolute purity and sanctity; to
see the infinite fecundity of the divine nature in the procession
of the Three Persons: to contemplate the eternal generation of the
Word, the
|
'brightness of (the Father's) glory and the figure of
his substance,' [48]
|
|
to see the ineffable breathing of the Holy
Spirit, the issue of the common Love of the Father and the Son,
which unites them in the most complete outpouring of themselves.
The Good tends naturally to diffuse itself, and the greater the
Good the more abundant and intimate is its self-giving.
None can tell the joy and the love which this vision will produce
in us, a love of God so pure and so strong that nothing will ever
be able to destroy or in the slightest degree to diminish it.
In no way, therefore, can we express more clearly the preciousness
of sanctifying grace, or of the true interior life, than by saying
that it is a beginning of eternal life. Here on earth we know God
only by faith, and, while we hope one day to possess Him, we are
able, unfortunately, to lose Him by sin. But, apart from these two
differences, it is fundamentally the same life, the same
sanctifying grace and the same charity, which is to last through
all eternity.
This is the fundamental truth of Christian spirituality.
Consequently our interior life must be a life of humility, for we
must remember always that the principle of that life, sanctifying
grace, is a gratuitous gift, and that we need an actual grace for
the slightest salutary act, for the shortest step forward in the
way of salvation. It must be also a life of mortification; as St.
Paul says, we must be
|
'always bearing about in our body the
mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made
manifest in our bodies' ; [49]
|
|
that is to say: we must daily more
and more die to sin and to the relics that sin leaves in us, so
that God may reign more completely in us, even to the depth of the
soul. But, above all, our interior life must be a life of faith,
hope, charity, and union with God by unceasing prayer; it is above
all the life of the three theological virtues and of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost which accompany them: the gifts of wisdom,
understanding, knowledge, piety, counsel, fortitude and fear of
the Lord. In this way we shall enter into the mysteries of faith
and relish them more and more. In other words, our whole interior
life tends towards the supernatural contemplation of the mysteries
of the inner life of God and of the Incarnation and Redemption; it
tends, above all, towards a more intimate union with God, a
preliminary to that union with Him, ever actual and perpetual,
which will be the consummation of eternal life.
|
|