So far in my prayer Our Lord has been merely bringing facts to my mind. These may be compared to dry faggots placed on the hearth; it is only by the light given in prayer, and by repeated and earnest application of my faculties, that I shall gradually awake to the wonderful new world that lies round about me and within me, waiting to be explored - the world of grace.
Cardinal Mercier strongly recommends a practice which he rightly maintains to be a most powerful help to holiness. He would have the earnest soul "enter into itself" frequently each day, if only for a few seconds each time, in order to speak to the divine Guest living within itself. It may not be possible for many of us to spend long hours in prayer, but there is no soul of good will - and all who use these meditations are assumed to be such - who cannot now and then call home the imagination and fix all thought on the indwelling of God in the soul. It is impossible to grow accustomed to living in this sort of atmosphere and not be profoundly influenced to develop an intense love of God, a deep personal love of Jesus, which is the root of sanctity.
Grace, as the sense of its presence in my soul grows, leads on to an understanding of the truth that we are children of God. "Behold," writes Saint John, "what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called and should be the sons of God ... Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be." Grace makes us brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, Who is our elder Brother. That is why we become God's children - by adoption - really and actually sharing in the divine life of our Brother.
Because we are sons of God, we acquire further, by grace, the right to share in Christ's inheritance. "If sons, [we are] heirs also, heirs indeed of God and jointheirs with Christ." Sanctifying grace may thus be compared to the ticket we buy when setting out on a train journey. The analogy, though imperfect, is useful. Every soul in the state of grace may rest assured that all is going well as the journey proceeds from time into eternity. The traveler is in the right compartment, he has caught the right train, is nearing journey's end, and will surely get off at the right station.
God, Who constitutes the happiness of heaven, is infinitely knowable. There are, so to say, endless avenues to be explored and no finite mind can ever know all. It is utterly impossible to grasp the infinite perfections in God - His love, His power, His knowledge, His wisdom, His essence. The more nearly my mind approximates to the perfection of this knowledge, the more will my heart leap forward towards God in love. The more it knows Him and the more it loves, the greater will be the glory it will give to God throughout eternity.
What will be the measure of the soul's capacity to contain more and more of this knowledge and love? These will be in direct proportion to the quantity of sanctifying grace the soul will have accumulated during its earthly sojourn. That is why those who are truly wise are misers where there is question of increasing in sanctifying grace.
Always mindful of the truth that to those who love God all things work together unto good, the question that forms itself instinctively, you would say, in any given set of circumstances, is: How can this be made to yield the maximum for eternity? How can it be utilized to extract from it the maximum of sanctifying grace? In view of what Our Lord has shown me in my prayer today concerning this gift of God, we have to admit that the saints are logical. Sanity and sanctity are always good companions along the road of life.
Summary:
1. Grace, in a manner, deifies man.
2. All grace is communicated to the soul that makes and maintains union with its source, Jesus Christ.
3. Growth in grace, leading to friendship with God, making us His sons, ensuring a share in a heavenly inheritance.
Thought:
The soul is a tabernacle, containing its own Real Presence, and the life that matters is lived by God behind that tabernacle door.