Short Sermons On Catholic Doctrine

Author : P. Hehel
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331121664
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (216 download)

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Download or read book Short Sermons on Catholic Doctrine written by P. Hehel and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-10 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Short Sermons on Catholic Doctrine: A Plain and Practical Exposition of the Faith in a Series of Brief Discourses for the Ecclesiastical Year We often speak of the grace of God without having any very clear idea of what we mean. Some people fancy it is a sort of good will, or benevolence, with which God regards the just, but this is a mistake and we learn what grace really is from the Catechism, which says that grace is a supernatural gift of God, freely bestowed upon us for our sanctification and salvation. Grace is a supernatural gift of God-being supernatural it is far more precious than all gifts and privileges in the natural order. It is the outcome of God's supernatural love of men, infinitely surpassing all the benefits conferred upon us in our creation. It is infused into our souls, and is not mere benevolence on the part of God. We might indeed call any gift of God's a grace or favor, but we are speaking now of the grace which enables us to believe the revealed truths of faith and to keep the Commandments. This grace is an effect produced within us by God's goodness. "The love of God," says St. Thomas, "is never idle; just as fire is inconceivable except as actively burning and glowing, so is His love inconceivable without activity. It produces much good in those on whom it is bestowed, but its most excellent result is the grace which God infuses into our souls." Grace is given gratuitously, it is not merited by us. All that we possess, we receive from God; of ourselves we are nothing and have no gifts of body or of soul; we owe all to Him. "Who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him" (Rom. xi, 35). Since, then, we possess nothing and have not even any claim to gifts in the natural order, how can we possibly have a right to God's grace, a gift far transcending the limitations of our nature? We cannot deserve it, but He gives it, because of His boundless love of us and His desire for our salvation. A clear account of the nature and efficacy of Divine grace is given by a holy bishop of Paris. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.