Samuel was one of the greatest prophets of Israel. His mother was Hannah. The word, "hannah" means "grace." Interestingly enough, Samuel in his first book tells of his own birth and his mother's prayer. In her prayer she tells God: "The bareen has borne seven..." She is barren, and she knows God knows it. She promises God that if He were to give her a son, she would dedicate him entirely to the Lord. She keeps her promise and gives her son at a very early age to the priests of God to be educated and taught by them in the ways of God. When Samuel grows up, he saves the life of Susanna who was accused of adutlery by judges who themselves wanted to lay with her. But she refused them and screamed. They told a tall tale about a man who came and lay with her. Since they were known and honored judges, they were believed over her protests. As they were about to execute Susanna, Samuel said: "How can you condemn a daughter of Israel without a proper trial. Separate these two judges and let me question them." He asked the first judge, "under what tree did you see them?" And the judge answered: "Under the oak." Samuel said that "fine lie will cost you your head." He asked the second judge, "Under what tree did you see them?" The judge answered, "Under the mastic tree." Samuel said, "The angel of death is waiting to cut you in two." Everyone marveled at Samuel's wisdom. The Judges were executed by decapitation. They suffered the fate they wished upon Susanna. So Samuel is a great prophet; and his mother won the favor of God by giving her Samuel as an answer to her prayers. She prayed preseveringing, consitently and kept her promise. She gave him up before she could really enjoy him. But she was content that God had away her shame of barreness and made her a mother of a saintly child.
If you take away the first and last letters of the name, Hannah, you can see the name: Anna. This significant name is fitting parallel story to Hannah's prayer. Today, July 26, 2011, is the Feast Day of St. Anne and St. Joachim, her husband. Anne was childless and barren. But like Hannah of old, Anne prayed and prayed to have a child even when she was older than women who bear children. But God heard Anne's prayer; and she conceived a child who would play a great role in the salvation of the world. She gave birth to Mary who became the virgin Mother of Jesus. Anne's name means "Grace"; and Mary heard these world spoken to her from the Angel Gabriel: "Hail Mary, full of grace....."full of grace". To be full of grace means that there is no room for sin. Mary was redeemed by the pre-merits of Christ's Blood in the womb at the very moment of her conception. Thus, at Lourdes in France, the visionary, Bernadette asked the Lady: "Who are you?" And Mary answered: "I am the Immaculate Conception." That was just within 2 years after the Holy Father had declared as a dogma of the Faith in 1850 that Mary was immacutlately conceived. So, Mary was a great grace for Anne and Joachim and for the world. Mary said: "All generations will call me blessed." The Greek word that St.Jerome translated was the world: "Fully graced" as spoken by the angel. St. Jerome translated that word into the Latin: "gratia plena" that is "full of grace." This is the whole basis of the dogma Immaculate Conception. This was the greatest gift of grace ever given to any human being in history or ever will be.
What does grace mean for you and me? Grace is God's life within us. God gives us a share in His own Divine Life by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. God's grace in us is called "Sanctifying Grace." God is living in us and sancityfing us each moment of our life. When we are called to heaven, this grace will become eternal and permanent and never can be lost. So what does all this mean in the daily practical sense of our lives? Fr. Doug put it this way: "The essence is for us to be open to God's grace and to be attentive to what God asks of us."
Jesus made a comment about this, too: "Not those who say, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of God; but those who do the will of My Father in heaven." So, the essence of grace and our response to it is that we would do the will of God in heaven. To do that we must be attentive to what God is asking us to do. Well, the 10 Commandments are His explicit expressed will. Doing the will of God is obeying Him in His 10 Commandments. 5000 times a day in the country alone, the 5th Commandment of "Thou shalt not kill" is transgressed by abortionists. Keeping of God's Commandments is really for our own happiness here and in heaven. Our salvation is His will: "I will that all be save and none be lost." Every human being ever to have lived or will live - all - God gave and will give the grace to be saved. The 1st Commandment is to "Love God with all one's heart, mind, soul and strength" becasue that will bring us happiness. God didn't need to create angels and people. He was contented as God and needed nothing to be happy. God was and is infinitely happy. Why did He create us? Because: "Bonum est diffusivum sui." "Goodness has a tendency to go out of itself." God created us for our happiness, to share His life. Sharing in His life is called "grace." Living in grace is called holiness. Living in holiness is called sanctity. We are all called to be saints. Mother Teresa told us that and told the newman who interviewed her the same thing. He said to her: "Are you a saint?" She replied: "All of us are called to be saints. You are called to be a saint!" That blasted him good for asking such an insensitive question. But she used it for good. She gave him what he deserved: a call to sainthood. So, you and I are called to be saints. This is the reason why we were conceived and born: "to be happy on this earth and happy with god the Father in heaven for all eternity. Do we "wanna" go to heaven? Well, loivng God now IS heaven. God will one day make our "now" of loving Him to be an eternal "now" in heaven. Dying in Sanctifying grace is dying in His arms. For all eternity, we will be in His embrace, and He will never let us go!
Love, Pio
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