Sunday Meditation: Let us respond to the "moment of grace!"

The Greatest "Moment of Grace"

The gospels show us many "moments of grace."

Those who had sick children or friends hurried to Jesus when they heard he was near. They believed and Jesus healed their children, servants, friends recognizing their deep faith, the response to that moment of grace in their lives. In their great need they turned to Jesus. Should we not do the same?

We live in perilous times, but times that offer us many "moments of grace." How will we respond?

Fr. Andre Jean Hamon, a French Sulpician professor and author of several spiritual and historical works who died in 1874 wrote this about the "moment of grace:"

The moment of grace, once past, never returns....God attaches His graces to times, seasons, places, and objects, to a number of circumstances which but rarely coincide. Not to profit, then, by grace is to expose ourselves never again to receive it.

We live in a time of fear and uncertainty and persecution. How do we respond? Will we recognize the moments of grace in our lives today? Will we take advantage of them? Will we embrace them with faith? When we do, Fr. Hamon says:

God responds "by giving us immediately new ones....All our days are filled with them; and yet we are so poor, so weak, so miserable, we allow these moment of grace to pass. Let us fear this misfortune, and let us determine to be henceforth more faithful to them."

Let us pray that this day, this hour, that we will be conscious of the many graces offered to us and that we will respond with faith-filled hearts and a spirit of gratitude! 

Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces, pray for us.