By Sam Aitchison
The Church is Alive!
The rituals of our Catholic Church give me a sense of continuity. I feel comfort in the rituals, the reverence in the repetition. Each of the seven sacraments is a visible sign of invisible graces and utilizes specific prayers and visible elements of God’s creation: bread and wine, holy oils, holy water. Sometimes, I take the continuity of the rituals and the bedrock of the sacraments for granted. Then, an outpouring of grace occurs that I had not expected.
I vividly recall homilies, confessions or music in Mass from years ago, experiences I never thought would remain so engrained in my memory. The Church refers to these outpourings of grace as sacraments, experiencing Christ in the world through his creation. These small “s” sacraments are outpourings of love so that I can experience Christ in the normalcy of my life.
In many of the works of Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor, such as “Revelation,” “The Lame Shall Enter First” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” God’s grace comes in odd ways through often grotesque characters. I think O’Connor hits on an important message through her work: grace is not a predictable, explainable or even an understandable phenomenon.
Recently during Mass, we sang “Miracle of Grace” and the first verse was particularly moving for me. It goes:
Miracle of grace, mystery of faith, calling us to venture to the deep. Though our senses fail, your graces still prevail,
and we become the love that we receive.
It is difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that even though we fail, sometimes often, God’s grace prevails. I just cannot understand God’s radical love but am grateful for it. I think of a quote by English writer and journalist Graham Greene, who said, “You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.”
God’s grace may confuse me because I feel unworthy of it; even though I know that God bestows grace freely on me and that I am God’s beloved — just like all of us. On this earth, I don’t think I’ll fully understand God’s grace. What I do understand is God’s call to emulate his love and mercy as best and as often as I can.
Our social systems put people with money, fame, power and prestige on a pedestal, leaving the message that these people are “better.” As I enter the Lenten season, I am contemplating: How can I uphold everyone’s dignity and worth, extending God’s love and mercy to the people whose lives cross my path? How can I be open to God’s grace in all the moments of my life?
(Sam Aitchison is a junior at Saint Louis University. Contact him at samaitchison6@gmail.com).
