•Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink. (Exodus 17:6)
•Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. (Romans 5:7)
•Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? (John 4:11)

 

•Consider the three texts above, how does each represent grace?
•How is it possible to die to your desire?
•Is grace earned or God’s gift?
•What is the origin of your faith?

Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feeling or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s word—Thus you will know them by their fruits—reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trust and poverty.<sup>1



1</sup>Catechism of the Catholic Church, Image Book: New York, 1995, p. 540.