LITTLE HEAVEN

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you all.

My dear brothers and sisters, we are going to understand from Scriptures what is meant by grace and how important it is to be in the grace of Jesus.

Grace means to be in the favor of God. To remain pleasing to God always. We read in the Gospel John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory, as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

That means, the glory of Jesus, as the Fathers only son, in his grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Jesus, by pouring his grace upon his people is also sharing his glory that he enjoys with his Father. His glory is his fullness of grace.

In Luke 2:40 we read "the child Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him."

Again it means Jesus grew up in the grace of God.

During the Baptism of Jesus, it is God the father who reveals his son to the mankind. And the father reveals his son in his intimacy. "This is my beloved Son with whom I am pleased. Therefore, Jesus in his fullness of grace is equally in full intimacy with his father. Hence, Grace means to be in the favor of God, he in his truth and he is in intimacy with God.

Jesus imparts his grace to the mankind and his grace is his own divine light that enlightens every man, the whole mankind, irrespective of caste, creed color or religion. Jesus dwells in each and every person. In John 1:9 we read "the true light which enlighten everyone was coming into the world. " God has put his grace in each and every person by the very fact that he was created in the image and likeness of God. In baptism, we are united with Jesus and the grace of God is poured more into our hearts. We are declared a beloved, a pleasing one before God, and a loving child of God.

We grow in the grace of God through prayers by fulfilling our duties and responsibilities through frequent receiving of the Sacraments, specially the Sacrament of penance and Eucharist. As we grow in grace, we are more enlightened and it is grace upon grace as said in the Gospel.

Angel Gabriel addresses Mary "Hail Mary full of grace". The angel said to Mary ‘Do not be afraid for you have found favor with God’. Once again grace means to be in the favor of God. Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God and became the Queen of Heaven.

In Genesis 6:8, we read, Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. We all know that Noah along with his family alone were saved from, the great floods. The history of salvation had taken several turning points whenever God’s chosen ones had found favor with him. Thus, it was in that fullness of time that Jesus came into the World as we read in

Isaiah 61:2 to proclaim the year of the Lords favor.

John 1:17 says Law was given through Mosses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. We should not seek to be justified by law, in that case, we would be cut off from grace, and grace will be no longer grace says St Paul. The grace of Jesus is our strength, it is our freedom. Jesus said my grace is sufficient for you.

In a short way, we have gone through the scriptures to understand what grace is meant by, namely, to be in the favor of God, to be pleasing to him.

Let us see now what is demanded of us to obtain this grace from Jesus, who is the fullness of grace.

In Romans 6:14 St Paul says "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace." The grace of Jesus has the power to destroy sin and the forgiveness of our sins is received according to the riches of his grace that is lavished on us. That is the transition we have from Moses to Jesus, from law to grace.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God." To live in the grace of Jesus means to walk in the newness of life, it is a call to holy living. This is the same knowledge we should have to understand and to receive the grace of Jesus, specially during this time of grace which the church has declared, the year of grace and as we are celebrating the Jubilee A.D.2000.

Therefore St Peter exhorts us, (1Peter 1:13) "Prepare your minds for action, discipline yourselves, set all you hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed". Grace is the power of Jesus when we are weak. As Jesus said, temptations must come. They are not of negative signs, but positive ones to realize and recognize that Jesus gives us the grace to fight them. In fighting against temptations, we suffer with Jesus. And the Lord rose to victory only through suffering. Therefore it is not a sign of weakness, but of strength since it is a strong one who is victorious by the grace of Jesus.

Let us enumerate a few graces, which Jesus has bestowed on us.

1.Jesus has given us his grace to praise him beyond the laws of nature. He heals a person who is born blind. He makes a lame walk. He calms the sea and raises a dead man to life again. These are beyond the law of nature.

2. Jesus, by his grace, has made it possible for us the impossible possible to us. What looks impossible to man is simply possible to God. Some one who is affected by a dreadful disease is given up by the medical science. But the Lord intervenes and heals him instantly. It is his grace at work.

3.Jesus has given us the grace to live in a continued certainty of hope. The message of our Christian life is that we live in the hope of Jesus.

4.Jesus has given us the grace to rejoice in him always. Philippians 4:4. To rejoice in joyful time as well as in difficult times.

5.Jesus has given us the grace and assured us deliverance from suffering: deliverance from suffering and deliverance in suffering.

6.Jesus has given us the grace to suffer for him Philippians 1:29

7. Jesus has given us the grace to understand that our life is himself and death is a gain  Philippians 1:21-22.

8.Jesus has given the grace to make our problems into the projects of the Lord.

9. Jesus is the courage in discouragement.

10. By being born again in the Holy Spirit, Jesus by his grace has elevated our status to a noble one, made us worthy to be the heirs of his kingdom, to be the children of God and granted us his own right to call God, Abba, Father.

Let us, therefore, make ourselves worthy of being called by God the father "This is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased".

Let us close our eyes for a moment of prayer and in humble supplication ask Jesus to grant us his grace to become a loving son, a loving daughter. Let us seek his grace to help us to walk in the newness of life. May Mother Mary protect us from all dangers that stand on our way to a holy living.

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