By justification, we are made living members of the Body of Christ, and may confidently ask for whatever we need for His sake and benefit
2 min • Digitized on March 17, 2022
#Body of Christ #Doctrine #Exhortation
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 62
By Venerable Louis of Granada
Still another more marvellous benefit of justification is that it transforms the soul into a living member of Christ.
This, again, is the source of new graces and privileges, for the Son of God, loving and cherishing us as His own members, infuses into us that virtue which is His life, and, as our Head, continually guides and directs us.
How tenderly, too, does the Heavenly Father look upon such souls, as members of His Divine Son, united to Him by the participation of the same Holy Spirit! Their works, therefore, are pleasing to Him, and meritorious in His sight, since it is Jesus Christ, His only Son, who lives and acts in them.
Hence, with what confidence they address God in prayer, because it is not so much for themselves as for His Divine Son that they pray, since to Him all the honor of their lives redounds. For as the members of the body can receive no benefit of which the Head does not partake, so neither can Christ, the Head of all the just, be separated from their virtues or merits.
If it be true, as the Apostle tells us, [1 Cor. vi. 15.] that they who sin against the members of Jesus Christ sin against Jesus Christ Himself, and that He regards a persecution directed against His members as directed against Himself, [Acts ix.] is it astonishing that He regards the honor paid to His members as paid to Himself?
Pray, then, with confidence, remembering that your petitions ascend to the Eternal Father in the name of His Son, Who is your Head. For His sake they will be heard, and will redound to His honor; for, as is generally admitted, when we ask a favor for the sake of another, it is granted, not so much to the one who receives it as to the one for whose sake it was asked. For this reason we are said to serve God when we serve the poor for His sake.