Grace Breaks In

on the Memorial of Saint Augustine

If sin darkens our intellect, how are we to receive a word of correction? How will we ever understand our waywardness? If sin makes it hard for us to understand anything at all, how can we know that we are in danger, or simply wrong about something?

Grace can break in. A movement of God’s love can enter in surprisingly, making possible what would otherwise be impossible for us, even unto understanding that our unhappiness and lack of fulfillment is because of our sin.

What is sin, really, but misdirected longing for God. We were made for Him. We desire Him. Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. But we grasp for Him in creatures, only to be frustrated and often addicted through that disordered desire.

But grace can break in. When the intellect is darkened by sin and impervious to reason, grace can break in to illuminate what a darkened conscience can not. Then we can begin to be free, thinking rightly again - or perhaps for the first time. +