There are entire books written on the subject of the grace of God. But have you ever wondered exactly what is meant by the grace of God? Have you made any efforts to look up the definition of grace? Have you ever found a definition that completely satisfied your curiosity and put to rest your need to understand the concept?
It is termed a favor, a gift, a participation in the life of God, a quality of the soul, a free and undeserved help. One can search the catechisms to find these and similar terms and concepts.
The great Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, discusses grace in his Summa Theologica in this series of topics : The necessity (109) and essence (110) of grace. The division (111) of grace. Its cause (112) and effects (113). Merit (114).
But the simplest and most concise definition that completely satisfies my need to grasp the concept is this statement: "Grace
is nothing other than the bilocated life of God." More than a participation in the life of God, it IS the life of God!
Who could be so bold, daring and innovative as to make such an elegant and simple assertion? It was spoken by the Lord Himself, who revealed it to a mystic of the Church:
". . . and my sweet Jesus told me: “My daughter, in each
act that my Celestial Mama did for Me – and they were continuous –
I repaid Her with a degree of graces, because I do not let Myself be
beaten nor surpassed by the acts of creatures – I am insuperable.
Therefore, if My dear Mama gave Me love, acts, steps, words - I, in
each degree of grace, gave Her a divine life, because grace
is nothing other than the bilocated life of God which
gives itself to creatures. What a great difference between an act
which a creature can give and a divine life which God gives at each
of their acts. So, the Queen of Heaven was immensely rich, with so
many divine lives which She received at each instant; and She used
them to form the cortege, to honor, to love, with divine lives, Her
Son, Her Jesus, Her All."
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