How Do We Receive Grace

Not Calculation, but Invitation

Dear brothers and sisters,

When Jesus speaks, it is always about salvation, about life, about the love of God that is offered to us. So the question that was posed to him in this evening’s Gospel from Luke seems reasonable: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” But Jesus isn’t interested in statistics, in percentages, in calculating 40, 60, or 80 percent. His way of speaking about salvation is much closer to life itself. And so his answer is very different than what we might expect. So what does Jesus say instead?

Jesus says: don’t calculate, don’t measure, simply come in. Receive the gift. Open your heart to something that is greater than your own achievements. The grace of God cannot be measured. It is not earned by our work; it is pure gift. Grace doesn’t come because we think we deserve it. Grace comes because God is a God who gives, who loves, who forgives.

How do we receive grace?

Let me share with you five starting points:

• By listening to the Word. God’s Word is not just information, it is a promise. Whoever listens with an open heart receives. In the Old Testament we hear in Deuteronomy and again in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke: “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Grace happens when God’s Word touches our heart.
• By living the Word. God’s Word is alive, and it has the power to transforms us. To live the Word means to follow the example of Jesus’ own life (his compassion for the poor, his forgiveness of enemies, his readiness to serve and his trust tin the Father.) He invites us to put into practice what we have heard and to live it out through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• By prayer. Sometimes two words are enough: “Lord, help.” Or even just a sigh. Grace is not received through many words, but through surrender. In the quiet reaching out to God, in waiting and trusting, our hearts open and grace flows in. St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans: …for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
• In the Sacraments. The Catholic Church teaches us that Baptism, Eucharist, and Reconciliation are the sacraments of grace (CCC 1131). They are not just rituals. They are encounters with Jesus Christ himself. He lays his hand upon us, he lifts us up, and gives new life.
• And finally, by trust. And perhaps this is the hardest of all: to let go. To stop needing to control everything. To receive grace means not clenching our fists, but opening our hands. It means not holding on tightly, but letting ourselves be held.

This letting go of ourselves may be what Jesus means by the “narrow door” in the Gospel for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many will not be strong enough”. At first, it might sound like a hurdle, as if we had to struggle and fight our way into the kingdom of God. But it’s not what Jesus is saying. The kingdom of God is both gift and grace, and Jesus himself keeps the door open. The “narrowness” simply means this: we cannot pass through half-heartedly, or superficially. It calls for our heart, for our decision to entrust ourselves to him.

The kingdom of God grows where faithfulness, patience, and forgiveness are honestly sought and lived. At times, these doors may feel narrow. But it is through them that we enter into something wide and spacious: the fullness of a love that carries us and gives life.

St. Paul gives us a wonderful image to work with. We heard it in our Second Reading in his Letter to the Hebrews: "So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.” Friends, this is a beautiful picture, not only for our life of faith, but for the grace of God itself.

Grace transforms

Whoever receives grace does not remain the same.

Grace frees us from the pressure to prove ourselves. Grace removes the fear of coming up short. Grace brings peace, even when the world around us is restless. Grace enables us to forgive where we would otherwise remain hard and bitter. Grace opens our eyes to the person beside us, the ones who need our help.

Heaven now — experienced in grace

We often think of heaven as something far away — someday, somewhere, later. But heaven, the kingdom of God, begins here and now, wherever grace is received and shared. The kingdom of God is where God’s love takes shape. It is where people enrich each other, where reconciliation happens and where giving joy creates joy.

Heaven is not geography. Heaven is relationship. Relationship with God, who gives everything. Relationship with one another, living together in his love.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters, the grace of God cannot be calculated — and it cannot be measured.

We cannot buy it, we cannot earn it, we cannot control it. We can only receive it: in listening. In prayer. In trust. In the sacraments. And whoever receives grace is changed and becomes a source of joy, a doorway to heaven for others.

This, my dear brothers and sisters, is how God’s kingdom grows: not by calculation, not by measuring, freely given, until it is overflowing. We cannot make it happen, we can only receive it. And those who receive it become rich, rich in love, rich in hope, rich in heaven, here and now.

Amen.