from An Easy Way to Become a Saint – Fr. Paul O’Sullivan
The Gift of Divine Grace
Scarcely had we been born when our parents took us to the baptismal font. We had come into the world covered with a hideous leprosy, the filth and corruption of Original Sin, which we inherited from our First Parents.
The baptismal water was poured on our heads; we were bathed in the Precious Blood of Jesus, the same that was shed for us on Calvary.
These saving waters cleansed our souls from this hideous leprosy, leaving them as pure as the Angels in Heaven, while God, by an infinitely divine act of love, clothed our souls with a dazzling mantle taken from His own shoulders, viz., with the robe of Divine Grace.
This is a real participation in His own divine nature, as St. Peter assures us.
Did we see our soul clad in this divine mantle, we should be inclined to fall down and adore it. Nothing on this earth can give us even a faint idea of a soul in Grace – an image of God, radiant, resplendent with divine beauty.
This divine grace is not only a robe of beauty; it is a divine force, a new life, which raises up our natures, giving them a new dignity.
It penetrates into our faculties, illuminates our intellects and strengthens our will.
With it we can see and do what would be otherwise utterly impossible for poor human nature.
How little do we understand the wonders God has done for us!
Foolish, ignorant parents are so blind that they sometimes leave their children for days without Baptism.
The life of the newly born babe is so fragile that is may die at any moment, and then! That dear soul will never see God, through the culpable neglect of those who should love it most.
And even if the child does not die, why leave it wallowing in the corruption and filth of Original sin?
Fathers and mothers strive to save their children from the least bodily defect, yet owing to crass ignorance, they allow them to remain so long under the curse and malediction of sin. Sad, woeful ignorance!
God Watches Over Us
Nothing perhaps manifests so clearly God’s personal love for each one of us as His Divine Providence, which is watching over us every moment and in every event of our lives.
God has never taken His eyes off us since the moment of our creation, but is ever watching over us with loving care.
Nothing happens to us that He does not see and permit. Not even a hair falls from our heads without His consent.
Every moment of our lives is a new creation; our preservation is, as it were, a continual series of creations.
Did God forget us or take His Hand off us for a single moment, we should not only die, but fall back into our former nothingness.
He takes care of the beasts that roam in the forests, of the little birds that fly in the air; He clothes the lilies of the field in a garb more beautiful than that of Solomon in all his glory,
He sees every movement of the little fishes in the ocean, of the insects which are hidden in the earth.
With far greater reason, He tells us, does He watch over us who are His dear children, so that all that happens to us is for our welfare and happiness, as St. Paul tells us: “All things work together unto good.” (Rom. 8:28)
Nothing is so touching as the care a mother takes of her little one who is playing at her side. She is apparently intent on her sewing or knitting, but not for an instant does she lose sight of the child.
At the first sign of danger, throwing aside what she has in hand, she rushes toward the little one and snatches it from the peril that threatened it.
This is exactly how God watches over us. His eyes are ever on us. Though we may think that our troubles come from an enemy or from some other cause or by chance, we may be sure that nothing happens to us that God does not will.
What is lacking is our want of confidence. If we only ran to God in all our troubles, our lot in life would be very different from what it is, very much happier.
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A very beautiful reading thank you!
And a blessed feast of the Most Holy Name is Mary today! 🙂