Our Fall ♥ His Mercy

The gifts of intelligence and the freedom of will, to accompany the marvelously designed human body, these were the things to which human beings were entitled to, by their very nature. But that was not enough for God. He wanted to give more. He also bestowed on Adam and Eve the preternatural (beyond normal) gifts of freedom from suffering and death, great wisdom, and perfect self-control. But the most precious gift was the supernatural gift of sanctifying grace, the bond of intimate union with God.  

These gifts were to be passed on by Adam to his descendants...

But the one thing that was required of Adam in order to secure these gifts was that he must freely out of his own will, give his love irrevocably to God. This was the purpose of man's creation: to give glory to God by their love for him, and in that love find eternal happiness. 

But Adam and Eve rejected God. And so the preternatural and supernatural gifts were lost. All that remained were the gifts that man were entitled to by their human nature. The sin committed was not Adam's alone. Because all of us were present, potentially, in our common father Adam, all of us were affected when he sinned. 'Because our human nature fell from grace in its very origin, we say that we are born 'in the state of original sin'.'  The stain of original sin is not something 'on' or 'in' the soul. Original sin like sin is a no-thing. And so it is something that is absent from the soul. A state where we are depraved from sanctifying grace...the ability to be in union with God. 

People often ask, "Why must I suffer for something that I didn't do? It was Adam's sin, not mine. I wasn't even there!" And then they might further add, "God's not fair!"

The gifts lost to us were not the ones that we were entitled to by reason of our human nature. Those were the 'extras' that would have been ours if Adam had obeyed God. It wouldn't be right to blame God. 

If, long before, lets say a man named Bob, was born, some wealthy man had offered Bob's dad a huge huge sum of money for a small job, and Bob's dad turned it down. Bob can't blame the wealthy man because he is poor. It was his father's fault. Not the rich man's. 

But even though we lost all the preternatural gifts, God in his infinite mercy did restore to mankind the most important gift-sanctifying grace. Jesus Christ's death on the cross has restored that gift to us which we receive through baptism. And we should all be thankful for that. I know I am. 

Ref: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese

More Love ♥ More Happiness

A reason to know, love, and serve God more... with the help of his grace of course.

The more we do for God here, the greater will our happiness be in heaven. Now while everyone will be perfectly happy in heaven, some will have a greater capacity for happiness than others.

A quart bottle and a pint bottle may both be full, but the quart bottle will hold more water than the other. Two people may gaze upon Raphael's 'Marriage of the Virgin' and both be delighted at the artwork. However, the one who knows more about paintings would be able to appreciate it more. 

∴ More love, more happiness...

Ref: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese

The Basics ♥ Reaching Eternal Happiness

If you agree that man and woman were created by God, and are not just some biological accident occurring in the process of purposeless evolution, the next question to ask is why did God create humans?

God created man and woman out of love so that he could make them eternally happy. It then follows to ask the question: What is eternal happiness?

Eternal happiness is the possession of the greatest Love that exists, and to be possessed by it; to be in union with it. And that Love is nothing but the infinitely perfect God, our creator. Eternal happiness is not reached here on earth but only in heaven. 

So what am I doing here on earth?

Earth is where I begin my journey of life; a life that continues on into eternity. It's where I grow, learn, and discover things. And it is here on this earth that the necessary foundation for the happiness of heaven is laid. The foundation is laid by learning all I can about God (for I can't love what I don't know), loving him, and proving my love for him. 

This foundation is a must if eternal happiness is to be achieved. Because if there is no beginning of love in my heart for God here on earth, then there can be no realization of that love in eternity. If after a long time away, I'd be going home to someone I love dearly, then finally home and united with that loved one, I'd be so happy. But if I went home and met someone I did not know or did not love, what happiness would there be? 

The happiness of heaven is the final and complete possession of the God we have desired and loved weakly at a distance. And if it is to be our destiny—to be eternally united with God in love—then it follows that we must begin to love God here in this life. 

Ref: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese

Love Story ♥ Short and Sweet

Once upon a time...

God decided to show forth his goodness. And so he created man and woman so that he could share his everlasting happiness with them; to give them infinite bliss. 

Amongst the other gifts he bestowed on them, he gave them free will. He wanted them to love him on their own accord... for true love is never forced. This love was to be proved by their obedience... but they rejected God by disobeying him; they made an insult onto the infinite God. Thus eternal happiness was forever denied to them, they would forever be separated from Love, which is God himself.  

God in his infinite love and mercy could not bear that it be so. But the only way man and woman could be saved from their fate was if adequate reparation was made to his justice. 

The problem was that since God is infinite, that made the insult given by humanity infinite, and hence the reparation that needed to be made had to be infinite in order to be adequate. Justice also required that the debt to be repaid was made by man. But man, by his nature is finite and thus incapable of making infinite reparation. 

And so God the Father, sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, who is infinite, to become man, and as man, offer infinite reparation to God by dying on the cross. And so Jesus did. All this, so that humanity would once again be united in friendship with God.  

But that's not the end of the story...

The gift of free will still remains. It is the gift of choice. It is the gift that allows us, if we so choose, to love God and prove our love by obedience. 

Ref: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese