It is in weakness to sin that the Grace of God will grant us salvation

It is in weakness to sin that the grace of God will grant us Salvation

When St. Paul complained that some attack upon his humanity was more than he could accept, the Lord confirmed that it is only when we acknowledge that his grace will be the answer for mercy. 

Think for a moment how quickly we would crumble under the weight of sin if there was no assurance of a solution beyond our comprehension.  Each time we surrender to a recurring  mishap to sin the onset of fear should be uppermost in our minds.  However, the problem that makes its way into our adherence to doing the same thing over and over can become too simple to do anything about it on our own.  

We do not know what problem that confronted St. Paul that perhaps was more often than three times.  We are certain it was something that needed to be taken care of and he did not have the solution to solve it on his own.  Taking a similar occasion that any of us might encounter is to ignore the incident that has become so obvious to us that it has become an efficacious result of overlooking the harm it can produce.  

In my own weakness that doesn’t seem to leave me alone I rely upon the need to seek God’s forgiveness and keep a reminder with me all the time.  In my wallet, along with a credit card, insurance card, and driver’s license, I have a card that has on one side the words, “I am a Catholic.  In case of an emergency please call a priest.”  But in a more ernest need the other side states, “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell;  But most of al because they offend Thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love, I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life, Amen.”  An act of Contrition should always remind us of the mercy that God never tires of granting to us, and through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, we are forgiven if we would only remind ourselves that Mercy is the essence of Almighty God.

Perhaps this short reminder in scripture, to Paul, has the most adhering theme of God that he reminded Paul, and us 2,000 years later, that without sin the Son of God would not have been Incarnated assuming humanity in all of its weakness and died to save you and me from the loss of eternity with God.  Remember the words of the Exultet before the Easter candle,  “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,  which gained for us a Redeemer!”

This card which I received through the priests of the Sacred Heart, has been my mainstay even if I don’t take it out of my wallet each time I sin.  But the essence of such a prayer, all Catholics should remember, is a verbal or mental mantra that we should never discount even when the thorn in the flesh doesn’t leave us.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”  (2 Cor 12: 9).

An important aspect is this; I affirm with the help of the grace to confess my sins, do penance and amend my life evermore.  We are mandated to do our part in accepting this mercy.   

Ralph B. Hathaway