Embracing Grace

In the sacrament of confession, we talk about “being in the state of grace”. Being in a

state of grace is really the state of accepting our creatureliness – accepting the fact

that we are God’s loved children; and embracing this fact rather than making something

else, or someone else, the center of our lives.

In preaching retreats, I often like to use the song “Let You Go” by Will Reagan and United

Pursuit. In it, at one point, he sings:

“You are deeper and stronger than my eyes can see.”

I think that"‘s really very true. And that “depth” is anchored in God’s unconditional love for us.

St. Ignatius, in the Spiritual Exercises, refers to the devil as the “enemy of our human

nature”. This, also, is so true. The devil is the one who wants to destroy that right

relationship between creator and creature – the right relationship that was God’s loving

plan for us from the beginning of creation: God’s loved children.

By Fr. Mike French, SJ