Pastoral: You’re in a meeting with someone, who says that the sacraments are just part of a generally graced world. The world is full of grace and so are the sacraments. How would you respond to this person based on what you read in de Lubac?
There has been (especially more recently) a push to “gracify” everything in this world both seen and unseen and yet there is a very real distinction between both nature and grace. Of course, regarding the sacraments, if you were to only see them as a mindless and robotic ritual over the millennia then that very sentiment betrays your very own perceptibility. Let us briefly then, peer deeper at the distinction of grace and its place in this world and in each of our lives so that we can truly discern whether the sacraments are just another part of this “graced world”.
We first need to ask ourselves to define what “grace” truly is. For that I will borrow from Henri De Lubac when he defines grace as “supernatural in the fundamental sense that it is superior to any created or creatable nature, but it is in no sense a ‘supernature’. It is, so to speak, a new ‘accident’, hidden in and penetrating the substance of the soul and rendering it, as a soul, capable of living God’s own life, his divine life” (Henri De Lubac, A Brief Catechesis on Nature & Grace, pg. 46). In essence, grace is a quality that is infused into each of our souls. It is this grace that is hidden in each of our souls and penetrating the substance of our souls so that we can be capable of living God’s own divine life. But if the world is full of grace than this cannot be something sacred. I am not proposing that we cannot see God’s grace so to speak throughout the world and within His creation. But to make an assumption that the sacraments are a part of a “generally graced world” is the product of not looking deeper into what the sacraments are. Grace is not melded into the formation of creation neither the construct of human nature. In fact, as De Lubac opines, nature and grace should be seen as two separate gifts with both being distinct from each other. When we look at the constitution of nature, we are able to see that it is incongruous as it can only find and receive its final end through Christ who is the one that gives to us all freely. When you are able to see that each sacrament is an action of Jesus Christ working through the Church that is the Body of Christ, it brings us to a place of surrendering ourselves to the work of Christ in our lives and through each of the sacraments.
This grace that we have been talking about is intricately linked to the sacraments as the sacraments are outward signs of this inward grace which Christ set in motion to help each of us in our spiritual life so that we can grow in holiness. The sacraments by their very “nature” are mysteries and they point our focus towards the sacred presence of Jesus in our daily lives. For that however, they are not just signs but impartations of grace as they help you and me become more holy and grow the body of Christ. Through the sacraments we are able to relate to a supernatural God and draw us to worship and praise Him. And finally, not to put too fine of a point on this, they also strengthen us and nourish our being and our souls to better help us express the faith that is within us.
Each of the sacraments not only make us aware of this grace that has been infused in our souls but also enable us to experience this wonderful grace. When we look at nature and grace, we see that nature has embedded within itself a willingness to receive grace without it actually being grace itself or “gracified”. Since nature itself does not actually possess grace, it longs for it as the Apostle Paul proclaims that all creation groans/cries out for the revealing of the children of God. Again, I love what De Lubac states when referring to this infusion of grace within our natures that it does not “eliminate that nature. It neither disdains it nor replaces it. It informs it, remolds it; if necessary, it can exorcise it; it transfigures it in all of its concepts and activities” (Henri De Lubac, A Brief Catechesis on Nature & Grace, pg. 86). This is precisely why the sacraments cannot be a part of a “generally graced world” as they stand uniquely apart on their own infused with grace. As stated above, both are distinct gifts but the key word being “distinct”. Their relationship to one another is that the one (nature) can only achieve its culmination through Christ Jesus. In essence, grace is able to answer nature’s cry without becoming intermixed or becoming an extension of nature in any way.
In closing, I hope that in this limited space and time that we had, that the assumption that the sacraments are just an extension or in some way melded into the same pot with the a “generally graced world” is just not truth. These blessed sacraments are grace in themselves given to us freely by Christ so that the grace that He has infused into each of our souls may be realized and experienced. The structure of nature that is in the world has no ultimate end in itself but only through God and all of nature deeply longs for that which can only be freely be given through Christ. We have this freely given gift from Christ through the sacraments! I believe Holy Scripture and the Catechism are clear on this as well as De Lubac in his voluminous writings. My prayer then for you would be to first take time to contemplate the mysteries of the sacraments and the supernatural facets that are found within each of them. I am quite sure that you will find, that they are heavenly, unique and holy. And lastly, that this revealed grace bestowed and infused within your sinful nature being, will point your worship and praise to Christ for the rest of your days here on earth.