While being honoured during her visit to the United States, a sick man in the audience made some perverted gestures to St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata. The enraged congregation immediately moved towards the man to dismiss him from the gathering. St. Mother Teresa, however, calmed the assembly and said graciously, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." This saintly lady was implying, "That could have been me, but for the grace of God." It is true that even the most virtuous among us are what they are purely because of the grace of God.
By nature, we humans are weak and fall easily to temptations. Left to ourselves, we are sinful. We tend to move away from truth and purity. We doubt God’s goodness and His words. We are selfish and mean. We are flawed beyond words.
Yet, when we let the grace of God flow into our lives, we are able to overcome our weaknesses. We are heartened and have become strong-willed. We grow into a certain maturity that inspires us to transform ourselves from our human nature to that of the divine nature. We sinful humans no longer need to live in sin. Agnostics can overcome their doubts, and the selfish can get over every self-seeking obsession.
So then, what really is this grace? And why is it such an important factor in becoming virtuous and saintly? There are many explanations and definitions for grace.
In its simplest form, grace is the supernatural gift that God bestows on man. It comes to those who seek God, are willing to abide in Him, and are eager to keep His commandments. When we receive this gift, it changes our outlook and helps us see the world through the wisdom of God. All it takes to receive the gift of grace is our awareness and acceptance of this free grant given to us by God.
St. Paul talks in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, about this grace he received from Jesus Christ that helped him surmount all weaknesses and made him strong. As a testimony, St. Paul writes, "I pleaded with the Lord to take it (suffering) away from me." But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you!" And indeed, it was!