Do not break away from the life of grace!

“Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) 

The doors of the world are wide open and flung wide with all sorts of pleasures and distractions, sins and illusions, lies and attractions for every taste. The only problem is that all of this can only lead us to destruction, and MANY are those who follow that path, that road, that direction... 

YOU WHO CAME TO THIS BLOG TODAY NEED TO BE THE DIFFERENCE! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO WALK THE NARROW PATH, THROUGH THE TIGHT GATE THAT LEADS TO LIFE, THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO ETERNITY, IN THE DIRECTION THAT FEW AND RARE PEOPLE CAN FIND!  

Starting our walk is the easiest thing in the world! Anyone, in any situation, can begin a journey with God. The hardest part—and the secret—is not in starting (even if you're starting right now), but in remaining in the ways of the Lord! That is the challenge we want to propose for today and its theme: insist, persist, and never give up; do not break away from the life of grace! 

To be on God's path, to be in His grace, is constant joy, perfect and deep love, real peace—a grace that surpasses what we can understand or feel. That’s what we were made for: to be with God, to live with Him for all eternity. That’s why only in Him can our hearts find rest, as Saint Augustine said.  

God brings us countless consolations, especially at the beginning of the journey. But the truth is, we must grow and take steps in faith to become mature, to become adults, taking up our calling and vocation—and only then will we find happiness.  

The path is not made only of roses, nor only of thorns, but we must be ready for anything if we choose to walk with God. That’s where many fail to understand they think being with God is only glory and joy. 

Many followed Jesus as He walked the streets of Jerusalem, Samaria, Galilee, and everywhere, performing miracles, wonders, and signs. But how few remained with Him to the cross, through the suffering, pain, and difficulties... Even among His closest disciples—the twelve—and even the three closest ones, only John stayed until the end, along with the devout women. 

Walking with Jesus is not only glory, grace, and miracles—but also the cross, suffering, and torment. Jesus Himself promised nothing but the cross to those who would follow Him: 

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’" (Matthew 16:24) 

That’s why Saint Louis de Montfort said Jesus had many friends around His table, but few around His cross. That’s also why God gave Saint John the revelation, through the angel who invited him to take the book and eat it. The angel told him the book would taste sweet in his mouth but become bitter in his stomach: 

"I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour." (Revelation 10:10) 

That’s also how our walk with God is: at first, sweet as honey because we experience the grace of Christ, the depth of His love, the strength of the Holy Spirit, the help of the Virgin Mary, the intercession of the saints, the presence of angels—all sorts of spiritual consolations and extraordinary graces. 

But so, we don’t remain spiritual children, the Lord allows that sweet taste to turn bitter to test our love and faith. 

This journey is illustrated in the Parable of the Sower, where Jesus tells of a sewer spreading seeds: some fall along the path, others on rocky ground, others among thorns, and finally, some on good soil. 

Jesus Himself explains: 

"Listen to what the parable of the sewer means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Matthew 13:18-23) 

We can understand the power of God's Word and the effects it produces in us as the grace of God.  God’s grace is poured out upon the whole earth, for Jesus causes the sun of His justice, truth, mercy, and love to shine upon all, without exception. 

Whether grace has an effect in our lives or not depends on our condition, our openness, and our willingness to receive and respond to it. 

Many times, grace comes to perform miracles, healing, restoration, transformation—but because we don’t walk with God and stay only at the edge of the path, the devil easily steals grace from us. 

Other times, we start walking with God, but we don’t want to let go of sin or the things we held onto before. Sometimes we’re too proud to abandon our old lifestyle. God’s grace can only have its full effect when we have the courage to walk forward without turning back and to renounce whatever is necessary.

Saint Thomas Aquinas said that grace is given to us to practice good and avoid evil. Saint Augustine said we must remain in grace and not break away from it, as it is the life of God in us. 

Let’s look at what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph 1996: 

“Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call: to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.” 

And in paragraph 2000: 

“Sanctifying grace is a habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by His love.” 

This grace is what we need to live in God’s presence. Without God’s free help - His grace - we cannot persevere, insist, knock, pray, be holy, or be happy. We need the grace of God in everything! 

Living in grace means remaining in communion with Christ and His Church, spiritually united with the saints and angels, with the Virgin Mary, and in sync with the grace - filled lives of our brothers and sisters - the mystical communion between the Church Militant (on Earth), Suffering (in Purgatory), and Triumphant (in Heaven). 

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8) 

Now we begin to grasp how necessary God’s grace is. It’s not given to us in vain - it’s meant to sanctify us and make us holy, true children of God. 

WE MUST BECOME AWARE OF WHAT SEPARATES US FROM GRACE, WHAT STEALS IT, WHAT BREAKS OUR CONNECTION WITH GOD - WHAT BREAKS THE LIFE OF GRACE IN US. 

Of course, the first and most terrifying thing that does this is sin. Sin separates us from God, His grace, and the glory reserved for us in eternal life: 

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:22 - 24) 

If we don’t want to lose God’s glory, redemption, eternal life, heaven - we must renounce sin urgently and not let it reign in our lives or bodies. We must say NO to sin and not let it kill the life of God in us. 

We won’t go into detail about sin here, but let’s reflect on what Saint Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. It resonates with what the Holy Spirit wants to bring to our hearts - to keep us from breaking with the life of grace: 

"As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4:1 - 8) 

God’s grace leads us to please Him, helping us to grow in this way of life. Being open to grace also means being closed to sin and everything connected with it. 

Saint Paul already knew that the worst sin and the one that drags the most souls to hell is the sin of impurity. That’s why he gives us the command to control our bodies in holiness and honor. 

It’s a matter of education and training. Nobody is born knowing how, and today’s youth are suffering even more from impurity than past generations - because it’s more visible and taught as something natural. 

Regardless of whether it’s harder or not, sin is, was, and always will be sin. It continues to rob and sever our union and communion with God. It kills God’s life in our soul. 

Many don’t even realize this is happening. IN CHURCHES, MORE PEOPLE ARE FALLING INTO WORSE AND GRAVER SINS BECAUSE THEY FULLY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING, AND IN THEIR LIBERTINISM, THEY SURRENDER TO UNCONTROLLED PASSIONS BECAUSE THEY NEVER LEARNED TO FIGHT THEM. WE MUST LEARN URGENTLY! 

"Timothy, my son, I give you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith." (1 Timothy 1:18 - 19) 

It’s a spiritual battle we must fight - against principalities, powers, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens; against the devil, the flesh, and the world. 

If you're going through something that has broken your connection to God's grace, and you think it’s God's will - THAT’S A LIE FROM THE DEVIL. It’s not “just a phase” - it’s spiritual negligence, a fall, a rupture with grace, a weakness that has shipwrecked your faith, a strike from hell against your soul. NOW is the time to restore the life of grace, my brethren! 

We must do everything we can to maintain the connection of our heart with Christ’s heart. The greatest mistake we can make is to break this communion consciously or to allow something external to come and sever it. 

To remain in grace, we must do our part - not only fighting sin and giving our all to resist it (cf. Hebrews 12:4), but also committing to a life of prayer, sacraments, good works, charity, faith, and hope. That’s our asceticism, which opens us to grace and grows through it. 

It’s a two - way movement: God gives His grace so we can persevere on the path of the cross and avoid sin - and to strengthen our prayer life so we can change our lifestyle until our lives are conformed to Christ. 

This way, we will be known as Christians - not just because we belong to the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, or are present in a community - but because of how we live. 

That is God’s will: that our Christian life of grace be reflected in action and in truth! 

Our invitation to you, whether you've been following us for a long time or are just passing by for the first time, is this: do not break away from the life of grace. 

If you feel that this life is weak or loose, or even if you realize it is breaking or has already broken, it's time to start again! It's time to renew the life of grace! It's time to be restored to a new life of grace in fullness! 

We need courageous people—those brave enough to look at their own lives and see that they are in the Church, where Christ’s grace flows through the sacrifice of the Holy Mass, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the prayer of the Rosary, through the action of the Holy Spirit, through community prayer, the sacraments, the Word of God, the cross, and through communion with angels and saints - as an abundant rain, a constant ocean of grace. Yet with hearts far from God, without true communion, it’s as if we are standing under an open umbrella... 

Many of us are like the image below: we need to close the umbrella of relativism, of lack of prayer, of sin, of religious ignorance, of closing ourselves to grace, of unforgiveness, of the impurity we've been living, and of the lack of pursuit of holiness. 

We want to invite you to join us in this prayer:  

“Lord Jesus, becoming aware of my weakness and hypocrisy, I want to surrender to you right now and close the umbrella that makes me insensitive to all the graces being poured out upon me. Today, in your powerful name, Lord Jesus, I want to renounce all sin. 

Holy Spirit of God, you who are my advocate and the one who reveals what is within me, I ask you to come now, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to put the house of my heart in order, to organize my life, to renew my communion with God, and to lead me to take the steps I need to take to return to the life that pleases God. 

Come, Holy Spirit, and perform a new work within me. Expel all evil, all attachments, all impurity from me. Come, wash and purify me with your living water, your purity, your gifts and charisms. Ignite holiness in me. Pour out holiness and a desire for Heaven into my heart now, in the name of Jesus. I want to be free—and free in the Lord! I want back the fervor in prayer, the joy of my salvation. Give me back what I lost during all this time, deluded and distracted by sin and the world. 

While I was focused only on myself, I didn’t notice I had made myself the lord of my own life and story. My heart became vain, attached to earthly things, to worldly values, to the desires of the flesh—but I don't want that anymore… Until when, Spirit of God, will I have to remain in this pitiful condition where I can't stay in the life of grace even for a week, a month—let alone a year or more? Come to my aid, O God! 

My soul cries out for you now! I thirst for you! Come satisfy my soul’s longing with your power, your grace, your presence, your mercy. I want you and I plead from the depths of my heart. Come and make a new Pentecost in my life! I open myself, ask and desire: Come, Holy Spirit! 

I consecrate myself to you, my mother, and I ask that you spread your perfume upon me—upon my heart, soul, and body—so the Holy Spirit may burn everything within me. I want to be a living flame of love for God. I want to be a pleasing sacrifice to God! Help me and speak a word to me, mother, as you spoke to Elizabeth, and I will be filled with a new anointing. 

Come transform me and recreate me! Work the impossible in me! Work miracles, wonders, and signs! I want to see your power working in me, here and now. You are wonderful, Lord! 

I want to give you glory and praise for so many wonders happening and being poured out at this very moment. Glory! Glory! Blessed are you forever, Father, because through Jesus Christ and the intercession of your beloved daughter, the Virgin Mary, you pour out your Spirit of love abundantly here… Hallelujah! Glory forever to your name! Thank you, Lord. Amen!”

We also want to conclude with the beautiful prayer by Pope Leo XIII, through which he consecrated the 20th century to the Holy Spirit. We, too, want to consecrate our lives to Him: 

Come, Creator Spirit, visit our souls, 

And fill our hearts with your heavenly gifts. 

You are called the Comforter, the gift of God most high, 

The living fountain, fire, love, the divine and healing anointing. 

You are the giver of the sevenfold gifts, the finger of God's hand, 

The promised one of the Father, proclaiming His deeds among us. 

Enlighten our minds, fill our hearts with love, 

Strengthen our weakness with your eternal power and protection. 

Drive away our enemy and grant us your peace; 

If you lead us by grace, we will leave behind all that is evil. 

Grant us to know the Father and the Son, 

And hold fast our faith in you, who proceeds from both. 

Amen. 

  

May the Holy Spirit seal in our hearts the grace of the fullness of God's life in us! 

**Translated and adapted from other blog in Brazilian: https://vounessadirecao.blogspot.com/2018/05/nao-romper-com-vida-da-graca.html