Eastern Africa Dominican Friars

"I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed on you... The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit but rather one that makes us strong, loving and wise... God has saved us and has called us to a holy life, not because of any merit of ours but according to His own design - the grace held out to us in Christ Jesus" (Second Letter to Timothy, 1:6-7, 9)

“Here Paul encourages Timothy on his use of the graces given to him, especially in the preaching of the Gospel… The grace of God is as fire when the ashes are covered over. It does not shine. So grace is covered over in humans through lack of use or human fear… Therefore, Paul tells him to stir up the dormant grace, as he writes, ‘Do not extinguish the spirit‘ (1 Thess 5:19) … In the imposition of hands, the grace of the Holy Spirit was given to Timothy. Whoever accepts an office, ought to carry out the responsibilities of the office. Therefore, according to our divine responsibilities, we ought to serve God. However, there are two spirits, one of the world and one of God. The distinction is that the Spirit designates love, because the name of the spirit awakens the impulse, and love stirs….”

“We are directed towards the good, because, as much as we are ordered to affection through the love of charity, sin as far as, all that we love, we bring to God… He shows that the cause of our call and freedom is God… He says: “He called us not for our goodness, as for our works…’not through works of justice that we did, but according to His mercy, He saved us’” (Titus 3:5).

St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Second Letter to Timothy.

“With the light, she has seen that the love and the graces that she has found in God, she is not able to give back to Him. She is able to return the love to him, but not the obligation of service for the grace which she receives from God, because He has no need of it, but she is well able to return to her neighbor, doing service to him, because to God she is not able to do it. This is true that, in serving our neighbors charitably, we demonstrate in him the love which we have for the Supreme Eternal Truth. In this way, charity is made evident, whether the virtues are actually in the soul or not. So the obedient soul, binds her will to fulfill the will of God in her neighbor, not giving up because of sufferings or any difficulties until death” St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 83.

“Grow rather in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

“Divine grace is ours, and we ought to possess it as ours. It is so truly ours that neither the devil nor creatures are able to take it away from us if we do not wish, and one is certainly ignorant who deprives himself of so great a treasure… And that you are able to have it and preserve it better, hide yourselves in the wounds of Christ, bathing yourself in His precious blood.” St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 90

“Sanctifying grace cannot be greater or less, since of its nature, grace joins us to the Highest Good, which is God. But as regards the subject, grace can be received more or less, inasmuch as one may be more perfectly enlightened by grace than another. And a certain reason for this on the part of him who prepares himself for grace; since he who is better prepared for grace receives more grace. Yet it is not here that we must look for the first cause of this diversity, since man prepares himself, only inasmuch as his free-will is prepared by God. Hence the first cause of this diversity is to be sought on the part of God, who dispenses His gifts of grace variously, in order that the beauty and perfection of the Church may result from these degrees…” (1a2ae. 112, 4) [First Part of the Second, question 112, article 4]

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Vol. I trans. English Dominicans (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1947), 1142.

In this passage, St. Thomas explains that our free will is involved in being open to God’s grace but even our openness is itself a grace. This indicates that any time we are drawn to God in any manner, God’s grace is already working in us.

“He has bestowed on us the great and precious things He promised, so that through these you… might become sharers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

 “Our happiness is twofold… One is proportionate to human nature, a happiness, which we can obtain by means of our natural principles. The other is happiness surpassing our nature, which we can obtain by the power of God alone, by a kind of participation of the Godhead, about which it is written that by Christ we are made ‘partakers of the Divine nature’ (2 Pt 1:4). And because such happiness surpasses the capacity of human nature, our natural principles, which enable us to act well according to our capacity, do not suffice to direct us to this same happiness. Hence, it is necessary for us to receive from God some additional principles, whereby we may be directed to supernatural happiness, even as we are directed to our connatural end by means of our natural principles, although not without Divine assistance. Such principles are called ‘theological virtues’: first, because their object is God, inasmuch as they direct us rightly to God: secondly, because they are infused in us by God alone: thirdly, because these virtues are not made known to us, save by Divine revelation, contained in Sacred Scripture” (1a2ae. 62, 1)

 “A certain nature may be ascribed to a certain thing in two ways. First, essentially, and thus these theological virtues surpass our nature. Secondly, by participation, as kindled wood partakes of the nature of fire: and thus, after a fashion, we become partakers of the Divine Nature… so that these virtues are proportionate to us in respect of the Nature of which we are made partakers” (1a2ae. 62, 1 ad 1) [First part of the Second part, question 62, article 1, the reply to the first objection].

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Vol. II trans. English Dominicans (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1947), 851.

“You, God, made Yourself human and humanity is made God."     St. Catherine of Siena, Prayer 21

“You see that the Father is a table for us, who holds everything which is in Himself, except for sin which is not in Him. The Word of God is made the food for us, roasted at the fire of the most burning charity. The Holy Spirit, charity Himself, is the servant for us, for through His hands, He has given and gives God. He continually serves us every grace and spiritual and temporal gift.” St. Catherine of Siena, Letter IX (Misciattelli Collection)

“You say, eternal Father, that the person who considers himself finds You in himself because he is created in Your image. He has memory to retain You and Your blessings, sharing Your power in this way. He has the understanding to know You and Your will, sharing of the wisdom of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and He has the will to love You, sharing the mercy of the Holy Spirit.” St. Catherine of Siena, Prayer XVII.

“The purpose and the fruit of our whole life is the knowledge of the Trinity in unity.” St. Thomas Aquinas, 1 Book of the Commentary on the Sentences, 2, 1.

“The soul is made like to God by grace. Hence for a divine Person to be sent to anyone by grace, there must be a likening of the soul to the divine Person Who is sent, by some gift of grace. Because the Holy Spirit is Love, the soul is assimilated to the Holy Ghost by the gift of charity: hence the mission of the Holy Spirit is according to the mode of charity. Whereas the Son is the Word, not any sort of word, but one that breaths forth Love. Hence Augustine says: ‘The Word we speak is knowledge with love’ (De Trinitate, 9,10). Thus the Son is sent not in accordance with every and any kind of intellectual perfection, but according to the intellectual illumination, which breaks forth into the affection of love, as is said, “Everyone who has heard from the Father and has learned comes to Me’ (Jn 6:45), and the Psalm, ‘In my meditation, a fire shall come forth’ (Ps 38:4). Augustine plainly say, ‘The Son is sent, whenever He is known and perceived by anyone’ (De Trinitate, 4, 20). Now perception involves a certain experiential knowledge and this is properly called wisdom, as it were, a sweet knowledge…” (1a. 43, 5 ad 2; First Part, question 43, article 5, reply to the 2^nd objection).

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Vol. I trans. English Dominicans (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1947), 222-223.