Grace

God is the creator.
We are creatures.
We receive our being, our life, our existence from him. In a similar way way we receive grace from God. Grace is God's life within us. The ultimate goal of the Christian life is to configured to Christ, to become one with Christ. This is made possible through the free gift of God's grace. The first grace is "sanctifying grace." This is given in baptism and when we receive confession after having committed a mortal sin. There is nothing we can do to earn this grace. it is a free gift. That is why even infants can receive it. A child is born with natural talents such as music, athletics, art, whatever. It is up to the parents to cultivate that talent. it is up to the child to act on the talent when they reach the age of reason. If the talent is not nurtured or put into practice then it will whither and amount to nothing. It is a natural good for a person to excel at music or academically or athletically, but not everyone can do this. Most people are average. However, everyone is called to be a saint. Whether you are tall or short, smart or slow witted, musical or tone def, athletic or clumsy, you are called to be a saint. In baptism the gifts are given to us so that we can grow in the image and likeness of God. Like our natural talents these supernatural gifts must also be put into practice. It is not enough to receive grace, we must act upon it. Ephesians 2:8-10. Parents must nurture the divine gift of grace in their children. Children, at the age of reason, decide to make an act of faith, hope and love. We are all seeking happiness, joy and peace. We ask this thing or that thing to make us happy. We ask this person to make us happy. When this thing or that person no longer makes us happy we move on to the next thing or we become depressed. In the end every creature will fail to make us happy because our souls are restless until they rest in God. Every created good can be taken away from you. You will get old. Your car will wear out. Your money will come to an end. The world tempts us, but the Christian no longer finds joy in the vanity of the world. The Christian finds his joy in God. Grace acts in the soul to draw us back to God. We can resist that grace or we can cooperate with it. Some saints never committed a mortal sin (St. Therese of Liseaux, St. Thomas Aquinas). Some saints were great sinners filled with pride (St. Augustine, St. Paul) In both kinds of saints it was God's grace that converted their hearts.