Page 23 - Nurturing the Nurturer 2018 Flip Page Program

Problem and Solution

Now for the tricky part. On our own,
we are absolutely incapable of
obtaining supernatural merits. This is
because we are fallen, sinful human
beings. An unplugged lamp won’t
give off any light, no matter how
many times you turn the switch.
Similarly, original sin unplugged our
souls from the source of grace – God
himself. When Jesus became man and
offered himself in atonement for our sins, he plugged human nature back in to God, so to
speak. This was the redemption. And so, anyone who is united to Christ through faith and
the sacraments is now once again connected to the source of grace – they are living in the
state of grace. Only in Christ, then, can we merit: “I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can
do nothing” (John 15:5).

But that’s the amazing thing: in Christ, we can
merit. God has consciously chosen to give us the
possibility of making a difference in his Kingdom.
We are not just along for the ride. What we do and
how we choose to live our ordinary lives can
actually increase the flow of grace in the world,
spreading Christ’s Kingdom and storing up
treasure for us in heaven. Jesus has not only saved
us from damnation, but he has given us the
possibility of becoming active, meritorious
collaborators in the work of redemption. Not
because we deserve it, but simply because he
generously wanted to give us that possibility: he
wanted our lives to have real meaning, our actions
and decisions to have eternal repercussions. His
love makes us friends and collaborators, not just
his robots or spiritual trophies.

Though it may seem obvious, we should mention that no one can merit the initial grace of
conversion for themselves. The unplugged lamp can’t plug itself in, though once plugged it
really is the lamp that shines. A misunderstanding of this point helped fuel the fire of
dissension that sparked so many painful divisions among Christians at the time of the
Protestant Reformation. We cannot save or redeem ourselves; we need a Savior, a
Redeemer: Christ. But on the other hand, once we have accepted Christ’s gift of grace, that
very gift enables us to merit other graces for ourselves and for the Church. This is a
marvelous, wonderful, and underemphasized part of the Good News!

Now we are ready to tackle the question of whether it is enough just to “say the words” in
order to win merit by uniting our sufferings to Christ. We’ll look at that next.

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