Supernatural Men and Women

“If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). What a most consoling assurance from our Lord, as He promised to send us His Holy Spirit! (cf Jn 14–17, farewell discourse).

What could be more intimate than God within us! (“He is with you, He is in you…”Jn 14:17). Yes, we receive Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Holy Eucharist, the closest we could be united to our Lord in this life. But His physical presence in us lasts for only about fifteen minutes. What remains after that is His grace in us, his “life in us” which is just as real, though not substantially as in the “Real Presence”.

As baptized Catholic Christians we are assured of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us (habitually) whenever we are free of any mortal sin in our soul since our last worthy confession,
which gives us sanctifying grace– God's life in us. We are said to be in the ‘state of grace’. God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us (indwelling), and with Him, (as the Catechism teaches us), is the Father and the Son. Properly speaking therefore, the Blessed Trinity is in us. We are truly divinized, partakers of the divine nature (cf 2Peter 1:4). ‘God in us’ through the Holy Spirit gives us that supernatural life of grace, over and above our natural human life. We now “live two different lives marvelously united at once. One is a natural and visible life, consisting in the union of soul and body; the other is an invisible and interior life, consisting in the union of the soul with the Holy Spirit.” (from CREDO, by Bp Schneider).

Infused into our souls, along with Sanctifying Grace, are the Three Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, as well as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, all these gifts come to us in seed form. It remains for us to make acts of the theological virtues frequently, grow in the moral virtues by prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments, and good works, with an attitude of constancy and uncompromising commitment. By this is grace increased in us; and whatever increases grace increases the infused virtues. “We grow in virtue as we grow in grace”. But without our cooperation this ‘habitual grace’ may lie dormant and eventually be lost.

“We live by the Spirit”; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we “walk by the Spirit”. (Gal 5:25, CCC 736). Experience attests to the battle within us between the Spirit and our weak human nature inclined to self-will. We ought therefore to endeavor towards self-renunciation by the practice of mortification. Everyday we are given opportunities to die to ourselves in thought, word, and deed. We can take every little opportunity to mortify ourselves daily even in small things. Then will we experience more and more the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the ‘lubricant’ of the soul, (as grace is the power of the soul), becoming more operational in the concrete instances of our daily life. No wonder we encounter people who are seriously striving towards holiness being wiser, more prudent in their decisions, temperate in the use of the goods of this world, and just in their dealings with others.

Now we recall Jesus’ words: “whoever believes in me will perform the same works that I do myself, he will perform even greater works…” (Jn 14:12). Now we understand why Saints throughout the centuries were able to perform miracles. It was ‘God-in-them’ working, because of the degree by which sanctifying grace has permeated their souls. Similarly 'God-in-us' is the source of all our good works. We may not perform great miracles like the Saints, but even just overcoming temptations, doing some heroic acts of charity we couldn't do before, or any good deed –all these are godly acts and manifestations of the supernatural life we live. “One act of charity is greater than the whole created universe”. It is all God's grace at work in us.

Still we may ask further: what does it really mean concretely to live in the state of grace in our everyday life? We see many other good people doing good, even better than us, but may not even be mindful whether they are in the state of grace or not, and we are shamed. What's the difference? Ah, but the incalculable difference lies in the INTENTION, which the casual eye will not easily spot.

At the minimum level it is living constantly free of any mortal sin. [But more than that to live in the state of grace means that our natural loves and human urges are transformed by a higher love–the love of God and the desire to do His will. For instance, if we are married, we see our spouse as partners in the way to holiness, and our children as a solemn trust from God, to be raised as saints. Our love for them is part of our love for God. We see our jobs not just as means to provide for our families, but instruments in God's hands for the completion of God's creative work in the world. Our natural friendliness is imbued with charity and our generosity perfected by detachment; our thoughtfulness partakes of the compassion of Christ. Not that we think of all these often in self-conscious righteousness, but that we begin our day pointed to God in conscious self offering of all our thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of the day (morning offering). All these, with the right intention (charity), and lived in union with God, being in the state of grace, is what makes us supernatural men and women.] (Gleaned and paraphrased from “The Faith Explained”, by Leo Trese)

We are also happy to know that as we participate in God's nature by grace all our actions (except sin), even the homeliest, such as cooking or cleaning the house, have eternal value, and MERIT for us an increase in Sanctifying Grace and a higher degree of glory in Heaven. “‘God-in-us’ gives an eternal value to all that we do” (Trese).

May we therefore endeavor to be supernatural men and women by habitually living in the state of grace and centering our lives on God. There is no in-between. We are either in the state of grace or we are not (state of sin). In doubt? There is always the Sacrament of Penance (the second plank after the shipwreck, baptism being the first) that gives us the moral certitude that we are restored to the state of grace. This is the only meaningful way of living. How foolish of us to settle for the simply natural life, when God offers us the supernatural life of grace, the beginning of the life of Heaven. Being in the state of grace “is a greater miracle than the creation of the universe, and infinitely more valuable than our earthly lives. For this reason, the true Christian is always ready to suffer death rather than commit sin. ‘The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us’ (Rom 8:18)”(Bp Schneider, Credo).