The reason why faith is the grace that God uses to justify us is that faith is entirely about receiving. Hope and love are things that we actively do, and even if we grant that God is the one who gives us this hope and love, it would be easy to get confused. It would be easy to think that God was rewarding us for what we did. Our minds turn in this direction naturally. Faith, by definition, receives.
That is what we are doing here. We are being fed, receiving. We are to do this in faith, receiving the same way. But the impetus to be up and doing dies hard in the human breast, and so many have made the sacraments into pageants that we can contribute something to. And at some level, you can always find an excuse to think this way, if you really want the excuse. After all, you had to get up this morning and drive here in order to receive, and it would be possible to start thinking that preparatory work adds something to the faith that simply receives. But it does not. God wants us to open our mouths, and He will fill them.
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The traffic should go the other way. The more you see this Table as simple grace, and your responsibility here to consist of receiving that grace, you will start to see how this receptive attitude is appropriate everywhere else. We are called to live from faith to faith, and the discipline of receiving God’s kindness here by faith alone is an important discipline.
And again, the reality of watching how your children receive this goodness is full of important lessons for us all.