Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
- 49 -
That's what the Church means when they teach: outside the Catholic Church,
there is no salvation.
Put another way, Jesus has entrusted His Church with ALL the
grace and merit He obtained for us. If any person is saved, that
person is saved by that grace which God has already provided to
and made present in His Church.
The ordinary means God employs to give us
grace and power in His name are the Mass,
the Holy Eucharist, all the other Sacraments,
plus various types of prayers and devotions,
like the Rosary, augmented by occasional
fasting and other types of personal sacrifices.
Catholics will tell you the story of a
man dying of thirst in the desert.
Coming at last, upon a pool of cool, clear water,
which would you choose?
Jump in bodily and drink until fully and totally satisfied - (Mass and Holy
Eucharist)
Scoop up a bucket full and drink it down, pouring it all over yourself in the
process; also saving some for later - (Other Sacraments)
Scoop up some water with your cupped hands and sip - (Prayer alone)
Of course, some might opt to do all three. So much the better!
It's like that with grace, too ... not to say that God can't make special
arrangements any time He chooses. It just makes good sense to always choose
the most abundant channel of grace available.
Fortified with God's grace through His Church, we're called to spread the good
news of His Kingdom to all nations and to baptize in the name of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit.
Through His Church, the Holy Spirit
comes to live in the souls of the faithful.
Doing so, the "Kingdom of God"
is powerfully manifest
upon the earth.
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