All Saints Museum Family,
Happy Lent! I hope your Lent has been fruitful so far. Keep the faith and the good works!
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), so we know this is Sanctifying Grace which is given by the Sacraments. And faith is “the evidence of things unseen” (Hebrews 11:1), which makes perfect sense because the Sacraments show us visibly the truth which is happening invisibly. Therefore the Sacraments are the visible signs of our faith, evidence of the Grace within us – that is the “participation in Divine Life” (CCC 1997). And moreover this is proof that “faith alone” doesn’t save us, because the Sacraments are in themselves works- that is outward signs, but the Grace is freely given by God. Not our own works, but the work of God through us, through our faith. Jesus came to do the work of His Father, and He sent us to continue His work! (see John 17:18 and John 20:21). And the work of God is this – to believe in Jesus (see John 6:29). Therefor it is neither faith alone nor works alone which saves us, but by Grace through faith – visibly manifest by the works we do in Christ.
In this season of Lent, I encourage you to receive especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation. How wonderful a Sacrament – God’s work in our Heart to Heal and Forgive and impart His Free Gift of Grace. Amen.