What about the talents we are given? There are two levels of the gifts God gives us. He gives us natural talents and abilities, for which we are responsible. We're supposed to use them wisely. But God also wishes to inspire and fill the natural talents with his supernatural grace. St Thomas Aquinas says that 'Grace perfects nature.' In other words, grace flows in and through the natural gifts taking them on to a higher and more powerful dimension.
This grace is available to all. It falls like the rain. But the paradox is that the rain will make both flowers and thorns grown. In other words, the raw material that the grace has to work on must first be changed from ego centered to God centered. There has to be the first conversion which takes place through faith and baptism--this conversion prepares the heart to receive the further graces which will transform the natural gifts into supernatural gifts in the world.
This infusion of grace into our lives has a purpose. It is to bring us to perfection. It is to gradually erode and wash away and, if need be, burn away all the imperfection and transform us from the inside out. We are to become fully alive, and such a transformation is glorious. Indeed, St Irenaeus teaches, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."
So the natural gifts are infused with grace, and the product is a fully alive, abundant human life. The problem with so many Christians is that they are still operating only on the level of the natural gifts. They want to serve God. They want to be a good Christian. They want to make progress, but they are still doing so under their own steam--only using their natural gifts, and not realizing that those gifts are to be infused with grace and transformed into something greater.
So we end up with a religion of good works. Everybody running about trying to be God's good little boys and girls, and no doubt, accomplishing some good things, but it's all a bit like amateur hour--the worthy talent show where people stood up and did the best they could--but it all lacked inspiration and genius and the brilliant glory of something supernatural taking place. No doubt the good works make things better, but so what?
Anybody can be good and make the world a better place, if that's all you're doing why bring religion into it, and if you thought that was going to be good enough you're going to be surprised, for the natural talents on their own won't get you to heaven.
They might help you make the world a better place, but they won't get you to that world which is the best place.
Ahh! This is good stuff. It's very frustrating trying to 'be' around catholics who are frantically running around 'doing' good works or 'doing' the virtues, or 'doing' weekly confessions and 'doing' nightly examinations of conscience. They're so busy 'doing' all the right catholic things they don't stop to take a moment to let the grace transform them. I believe they have it backwards. It's the grace that moves you to love and to desire to then go and 'do' the good deeds. My friend recently gave me a Rosary booklet to help me pray the Rosary and I noticed this lovely little prayer that was suggested to say at the end of each decade- "May the grace of this mystery come down into my soul". It kinda goes in line with what you have said Father about praying the rosary being on another level; sublinguistic.
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