Holy spirit and grace

[deb1]

If you have been born into the Catholic Church please forgive my ignorance. I am having problems understanding the difference between the Holy SPirit and Grace. Could someone explain this to me? I know that the Holy SPirit is the third person in the trinity. My Handbook for Catholics says that Grace is the spirit of God poured out into our hearts. This is where I am confused. Aren’t they the same thing? Because I come from a Protestant background, I have always heard people talk of being filled with the Holy Spirit. It might be some residue Protestant thinking that is confusing me, but I really would like some help in differentiating the two.

 

[PJR]

Wow, I think we need Thomas Aquinas or somebody to answer that one.

Grace is God’s life in us, freely given. Faith is a grace, so if we have faith, it is because God has entered our heart and given it to us. I guess that would be a gift of the Holy Spirit. The grace we receive in the Sacraments would be coveyed by the Holy Spirit through the visible sign.

The CCC says…Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is a favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.
CCC 1996

It goes on to beautifully explain grace. I suggest you get a catechism.

It is an awfully deep subject for this shallow mind. Paula

 

[YinYangMom]

PJR:

Wow, I think we need Thomas Aquinas or somebody to answer that one.

Grace is God’s life in us, freely given. Faith is a grace, so if we have faith, it is because God has entered our heart and given it to us. I guess that would be a gift of the Holy Spirit. The grace we receive in the Sacraments would be coveyed by the Holy Spirit through the visible sign.

The CCC says…Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is a favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.
CCC 1996

It goes on to beautifully explain grace. I suggest you get a catechism.

It is an awfully deep subject for this shallow mind. Paula

Boy, it almost seems like the chicken or the egg situation…

does the grace allow us to receive/recognize the Holy Spirit within us?

or is it the Holy Spirit providing us with grace which enables us to recognize Him?

I do know that remaining in a state of grace is critical to receiving all other gifts of God - thus the need for confession. If we are not in a state of grace we can’t receive communion until we go to confession to restore our state of grace. But that’s about the extent by which I understand the two.

 

[awalt]

Grace is a noun. Gracious is an adjective.

Grace is the gift of God as a result of His love for us. The outpouring of love is grace. It can be reflected in many graces - for example someoen mentioned growth in our faith. Another grace is the gift of salvation from God. This is the same as saying “God gave us the gracious gift of Salvation.”

The Holy Spirit is God - grace is not God.

 

[deb1]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. I do have a better understanding. I know that it is silly but when I hear the word Holy Spirit, I think of Pentecostals who claim to be filled with the Holy SPirit when they dance in the ailse. That’s what was confusing me.

 

[jimmy]

I don’t think it is contradictory to the faith to say that grace is the Holy Spirit. It would be contradictory to say that The Holy Spirit is grace because that would be limiting the Holy Spirit. I think Eastern Catholics view grace as being the Holy Spirit. Being “filled with grace” would be being “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

I actually think it fits pretty well within Catholic theology. Grace and The Holy Spirit are often mentioned in the same ways. Like, all grace proceeds from Christ. The Holy Spirit proceeds from Christ.

 

[mercygate]

deb1:

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. I do have a better understanding. I know that it is silly but when I hear the word Holy Spirit, I think of Pentecostals who claim to be filled with the Holy SPirit when they dance in the ailse. That’s what was confusing me.

I hope it won’t shatter you to learn that our very own, home-grown, Catholic charismatics do that, too! I’ve never seen it myself, but they are a powerful force for spiritual renewal in the Church – and you will find many of them on the front lines of the pro-life battle . . .

 

[deb1]

Hey Mercy Gate,

I wasn’t critizing Pencostals just trying to compare what I had been taught about the word Holy Spirit. It does not bother me at all if Grace means that I can have a charismatic experience.

 

[mercygate]

deb1:

Hey Mercy Gate,

I wasn’t critizing Pencostals just trying to compare what I had been taught about the word Holy Spirit. It does not bother me at all if Grace means that I can have a charismatic experience.

Hey! I knew that. I just didn’t know whether you were aware that we have tongue-talkin’, Spirit filled, charismatics!