Grace - part 1
Χαιρε, Δ.Α.!
Today I got from google photos a set of pics from a couple of years ago. They were very nostalgic and they made me think about the Immense Grace I had to be able to live those moments. And that took me, for some reason, to check my previous posts... And I found this one which I never really posted... And which talked about Grace. So, I decided to make it public.
Let’s start with this Bible passage: And coming to her, He said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." (Lk 1, 28)
“Full of grace” (κεχαριτωμένη is the Greek translation)
Please take note of this: “FULL OF GRACE”
But before I go and talk about the title that God Himself give the mother of our Lord (κεχαριτωμένη), let’s define grace. What’s is grace? Grace is favor, the free and undeserved 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.[1] (Cf. Jn 1:12-18; 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4.) Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.[2]
Now that we have defined ‘Grace’, let’s define full. Full can be defined as not lacking in any essential (perfect); being at the highest or greatest degree; complete. [3]
Now then! Let’s go back to my initial note: FULL + GRACE --> “Full of Grace”
This is not something that we came up with. It was the angel of the Lord that said those words to her: “Χαίρε, Μαρία, κεχαριτωμένη” “Rejoice, Mary, Full of Grace!” Is the expression that the angel uses in the original Greek translation.
The ‘κεχαριτωμένη’, the ‘full of grace’, is the name Mary possesses in the eyes of God. Indeed, the angel, according to the Evangelist Luke's account, uses this expression even before he speaks the name "Mary", and thus emphasizes the predominant aspect which the Lord perceived in the Virgin of Nazareth's personality. This term, enhances the image of a perfect and lasting grace which implies fullness. The abundance of grace itself is the basis of Mary's hidden spiritual richness. In the Old Testament, Yahweh expresses the superabundance of his love in many ways and on many occasions. At the dawn of the New Testament, the gratuitousness of God's mercy reaches the highest degree in Mary. In her, God's predilection, shown to the chosen people and in particular to the humble and the poor, reaches its culmination. [4] Remember how I said that “Grace is favor? A free and undeserved help that God gives us…?” Everything in Mary derives from a sovereign grace. All that is granted to her is not due to any claim of merit, but only to God's free and gratuitous choice.
“Grace is a participation in the life of God.” The fullness of grace implies a permanence in the life of God. It is from this premise, that Mary is the ‘full of Grace’, and by using faith and reason (since they are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth [5]), that all of the arguments that you have put into your previous letter fall into their rightful place. Just from one simple Bible passage:“Rejoice, Full of Grace!”
“Χαίρε, κεχαριτωμένη!”
P.S. Yes, our goal is God. Yes, it is only through Jesus Christ that we can get to the Father. I only ask you, my brother/sister, to pray for me; that way you'll be interceding for me before God, so that this friend of yours may, like the mother of our Lord, be humble and persevere in the grace of God who sanctifies and transforms hearts.
P.S. Did you know that there is an intimate connection between joy and grace? You probably already know this but in Greek joy and grace (χαρά και χάρη) come from the same root? They go together! Just some food for thought before I get to write a post about it.
References:
[1] CCC 1996
[2] CCC 1997
[3] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/full
[4] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1996/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_19960515_it.html
[5] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
Today I got from google photos a set of pics from a couple of years ago. They were very nostalgic and they made me think about the Immense Grace I had to be able to live those moments. And that took me, for some reason, to check my previous posts... And I found this one which I never really posted... And which talked about Grace. So, I decided to make it public.
Let’s start with this Bible passage: And coming to her, He said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." (Lk 1, 28)
“Full of grace” (κεχαριτωμένη is the Greek translation)
Please take note of this: “FULL OF GRACE”
But before I go and talk about the title that God Himself give the mother of our Lord (κεχαριτωμένη), let’s define grace. What’s is grace? Grace is favor, the free and undeserved 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.[1] (Cf. Jn 1:12-18; 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4.) Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.[2]
Now that we have defined ‘Grace’, let’s define full. Full can be defined as not lacking in any essential (perfect); being at the highest or greatest degree; complete. [3]
Now then! Let’s go back to my initial note: FULL + GRACE --> “Full of Grace”
This is not something that we came up with. It was the angel of the Lord that said those words to her: “Χαίρε, Μαρία, κεχαριτωμένη” “Rejoice, Mary, Full of Grace!” Is the expression that the angel uses in the original Greek translation.
The ‘κεχαριτωμένη’, the ‘full of grace’, is the name Mary possesses in the eyes of God. Indeed, the angel, according to the Evangelist Luke's account, uses this expression even before he speaks the name "Mary", and thus emphasizes the predominant aspect which the Lord perceived in the Virgin of Nazareth's personality. This term, enhances the image of a perfect and lasting grace which implies fullness. The abundance of grace itself is the basis of Mary's hidden spiritual richness. In the Old Testament, Yahweh expresses the superabundance of his love in many ways and on many occasions. At the dawn of the New Testament, the gratuitousness of God's mercy reaches the highest degree in Mary. In her, God's predilection, shown to the chosen people and in particular to the humble and the poor, reaches its culmination. [4] Remember how I said that “Grace is favor? A free and undeserved help that God gives us…?” Everything in Mary derives from a sovereign grace. All that is granted to her is not due to any claim of merit, but only to God's free and gratuitous choice.
“Grace is a participation in the life of God.” The fullness of grace implies a permanence in the life of God. It is from this premise, that Mary is the ‘full of Grace’, and by using faith and reason (since they are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth [5]), that all of the arguments that you have put into your previous letter fall into their rightful place. Just from one simple Bible passage:“Rejoice, Full of Grace!”
“Χαίρε, κεχαριτωμένη!”
P.S. Yes, our goal is God. Yes, it is only through Jesus Christ that we can get to the Father. I only ask you, my brother/sister, to pray for me; that way you'll be interceding for me before God, so that this friend of yours may, like the mother of our Lord, be humble and persevere in the grace of God who sanctifies and transforms hearts.
P.S. Did you know that there is an intimate connection between joy and grace? You probably already know this but in Greek joy and grace (χαρά και χάρη) come from the same root? They go together! Just some food for thought before I get to write a post about it.
References:
[1] CCC 1996
[2] CCC 1997
[3] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/full
[4] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1996/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_19960515_it.html
[5] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
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