| SPARK |
| 2004 |
| October |
The Spark is the Newsletter of the Fort Hood / Heart of Texas Cursillo. It is published by the Cursillo Community for the Cursillo Community
and does not reflect the opinion of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof.
and does not reflect the opinion of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof.
Amazing Grace
by Jim Barnes
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like m
I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed.
Through many troubles, toils and snares I have already come.
‘Twas Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there, ten-thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.
This is probably the single most recognized hymn in the world, and it has a very touching legend
behind it. The story goes that it was composed by a ship captain involved in the slave trade in the early
19th century. That much is true. His ship was full of slaves (true too often) and that it was caught up in
a storm at sea. (Bound to happen if you’re at sea long enough) The legend is that he became afraid
that he was going to sink in a terrible storm, and he prayed to God that if he and his ship and cargo
were spared, he would set the slaves free, never again participate in slave trade, and would right a
poem of praise to the Lord for His mercy. It is true that he wrote the poem, and therefore underwent a
radical change of heart and mind, that thing we called METANOIA on the weekend, but that it was much
later that he wrote the poem and quit the slave trade business. There is no evidence that his choice to
turn from slave trade had anything to do with a storm, or a miraculous deliverance or any kind of
contrite promise only with the Grace of God.
The song talks a lot about Grace, about what it does, what is brings about, but does not really address
what Grace is.
If we see a ballerina, we say, “Oh..isn’t she graceful!” Graceful means full of Grace, but doesn’t tell what
Grace is.
When we watch the couples figure skating competition in the winter olympics we say “Oh, aren’t they
graceful!” Again, the skaters are full of Grace, but what is the grace they are full of?
When we pray the Rosary, we begin with The Annunciation of the Angel to Mary “Hail Mary, Full of
Grace. For the lord is with you.”
What was this Grace?
We can begin to understand Grace a little better by understanding some of the simple things we do
ourselves.
When we sit down to eat, we give thanks for our meals. When I was growing up, we called this “Saying
Grace” In your Pilgrim’s Guide, they refer to the prayer as Grace before meals. What do we say,
though? We don’t say “Grace!” We read something funny in a Dick Van Dyke book entitled “Faith,
Hope, and Hilarity.” about the things kids say in Sunday schools, and my kids properly scandalized
their grandparents once when, just before a meal, we all joined hands and our youngest, Kenny, lead
off by Chanting: “Rub-a-dub-dub. Thanks for the grub! Yeaaaaaaaaaa God!!”
When we’re more civilized about it, the word Grace doesn’t appear in most prayers, unless it’s referring
to God’s Grace. In other words, Grace is a gift; in this instance, the gift of food.
In the song Amazing grace, the first verse says: “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.
Grace saved me. God’s gift saved me. His gift of faith. I did nothing on my own.
Grace found me. The auto club didn’t help. I didn’t have on-star. Global Positioning Satellites had
nothing to do with it. The only GPS that helps is God’s Perfect Salvation.
Grace made me see. My eyes were open to everything except what was import: God and his will for
me. He healed me and I was no longer blind to his plan for me. I didn’t discover one thing for myself. It
was all because of Grace.
Now, let’s try a definition of grace? Here’s one.
Grace is God’s gift of something that we, in and of ourselves are powerless to obtain. That gift
expresses itself in many ways. It may be the ability to endure ridicule or insult or physical abuse. It may
be the ability to bear affliction and offer it up for the salvation of someone else. It may be the ability to
persevere in our chosen vocation or avocation, our Christian morals and values, political correctness
notwithstanding.
Because of this gift of Grace, we can taking in faith what the world throws at us and enduring without
shouting “God! Why me!”
Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “If”.
Many of you have heard this poem, It begins:
If you can keep your head when all about you,
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
And make allowance for their doubting too.
It goes on to list a good many more “Ifs”, but the end line sums up,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth the distance run,
Then yours is the earth and everything that’s in it
And What is more, you’ll be a man, my son.
He’s talking about being filled with that gift of grace which expresses itself as perseverance, faith and
humility.
At our house, we are fond of the TV series Smallville. It is the story of a teenager named Clark Kent who
will, someday, grow up and become Superman. Surprisingly enough, in this version of the story, one
his best friends in Smallville is Lex Luther. If any of you are Superman fans you’ll recall that Lex Luther
and Superman are arch enemies. How that comes about in the series we have yet to discover.
In one episode, Clark Kent is worried about his dad’s farm. They have financial troubles, and Lex
Luther’s father, Lionel Luther, is the CEO that gives all Coorperate America a bad name. He tries to
pressure the Kents and others into bad financial decisions which will seem right in the short run, but
will lead to their utter ruin in the long run.
Lex, in order to reassure Clark, says that “His dad (Lionel) may try to control the world, but Clark’s dad,
Jonathan Kent, will inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. How will the
meek inherit the earth? They meek can remain meek because they are filled with gift of Grace. The
gift of God that makes them persevere and makes them fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds
worth the distance run.
What does this have to do with our fourth day?
Joe Wolfe was a team member for a weekend when I became de-facto Team Coordinator. He gave the
rollo on Formation his presentation had a recurring theme which left an indelible impression on me.
God says “To Know Me, Is To Love Me, To Love Me is to Serve Me.
We cannot know God by increasing our Formation without His gift of Grace to guide us to the right
subject matter and to make it a habit. We cannot increase our Holiness without God reaching out and
pouring his gift of Grace upon us as we seek him. We cannot be successful in our Evangelization
without God’s gift of grace to show us where and how to work.
Without Grace, there is no life, only existence. Our Lord says, in the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John,
“I, myself, am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live
forever……If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
John 6: 51 and 53
The day he created us, he gave us our lives. Then, so that we could know how to live the lives he gave
us, He gave us his life. What greater love, what greater gift, what greater grace can there be?
And so, finally, here at the last, we now know what Grace is. Grace is God, giving Himself to us whether
we’re aware of it or not, every time we need Him and allowing himself to become part of us. “We hold a
treasure, not made of gold, in earthen vessels, wealth untold. One treasure only: the Lord the Christ; in
earthen vessels.
by Jim Barnes
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like m
I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed.
Through many troubles, toils and snares I have already come.
‘Twas Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there, ten-thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.
This is probably the single most recognized hymn in the world, and it has a very touching legend
behind it. The story goes that it was composed by a ship captain involved in the slave trade in the early
19th century. That much is true. His ship was full of slaves (true too often) and that it was caught up in
a storm at sea. (Bound to happen if you’re at sea long enough) The legend is that he became afraid
that he was going to sink in a terrible storm, and he prayed to God that if he and his ship and cargo
were spared, he would set the slaves free, never again participate in slave trade, and would right a
poem of praise to the Lord for His mercy. It is true that he wrote the poem, and therefore underwent a
radical change of heart and mind, that thing we called METANOIA on the weekend, but that it was much
later that he wrote the poem and quit the slave trade business. There is no evidence that his choice to
turn from slave trade had anything to do with a storm, or a miraculous deliverance or any kind of
contrite promise only with the Grace of God.
The song talks a lot about Grace, about what it does, what is brings about, but does not really address
what Grace is.
If we see a ballerina, we say, “Oh..isn’t she graceful!” Graceful means full of Grace, but doesn’t tell what
Grace is.
When we watch the couples figure skating competition in the winter olympics we say “Oh, aren’t they
graceful!” Again, the skaters are full of Grace, but what is the grace they are full of?
When we pray the Rosary, we begin with The Annunciation of the Angel to Mary “Hail Mary, Full of
Grace. For the lord is with you.”
What was this Grace?
We can begin to understand Grace a little better by understanding some of the simple things we do
ourselves.
When we sit down to eat, we give thanks for our meals. When I was growing up, we called this “Saying
Grace” In your Pilgrim’s Guide, they refer to the prayer as Grace before meals. What do we say,
though? We don’t say “Grace!” We read something funny in a Dick Van Dyke book entitled “Faith,
Hope, and Hilarity.” about the things kids say in Sunday schools, and my kids properly scandalized
their grandparents once when, just before a meal, we all joined hands and our youngest, Kenny, lead
off by Chanting: “Rub-a-dub-dub. Thanks for the grub! Yeaaaaaaaaaa God!!”
When we’re more civilized about it, the word Grace doesn’t appear in most prayers, unless it’s referring
to God’s Grace. In other words, Grace is a gift; in this instance, the gift of food.
In the song Amazing grace, the first verse says: “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.
Grace saved me. God’s gift saved me. His gift of faith. I did nothing on my own.
Grace found me. The auto club didn’t help. I didn’t have on-star. Global Positioning Satellites had
nothing to do with it. The only GPS that helps is God’s Perfect Salvation.
Grace made me see. My eyes were open to everything except what was import: God and his will for
me. He healed me and I was no longer blind to his plan for me. I didn’t discover one thing for myself. It
was all because of Grace.
Now, let’s try a definition of grace? Here’s one.
Grace is God’s gift of something that we, in and of ourselves are powerless to obtain. That gift
expresses itself in many ways. It may be the ability to endure ridicule or insult or physical abuse. It may
be the ability to bear affliction and offer it up for the salvation of someone else. It may be the ability to
persevere in our chosen vocation or avocation, our Christian morals and values, political correctness
notwithstanding.
Because of this gift of Grace, we can taking in faith what the world throws at us and enduring without
shouting “God! Why me!”
Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “If”.
Many of you have heard this poem, It begins:
If you can keep your head when all about you,
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
And make allowance for their doubting too.
It goes on to list a good many more “Ifs”, but the end line sums up,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth the distance run,
Then yours is the earth and everything that’s in it
And What is more, you’ll be a man, my son.
He’s talking about being filled with that gift of grace which expresses itself as perseverance, faith and
humility.
At our house, we are fond of the TV series Smallville. It is the story of a teenager named Clark Kent who
will, someday, grow up and become Superman. Surprisingly enough, in this version of the story, one
his best friends in Smallville is Lex Luther. If any of you are Superman fans you’ll recall that Lex Luther
and Superman are arch enemies. How that comes about in the series we have yet to discover.
In one episode, Clark Kent is worried about his dad’s farm. They have financial troubles, and Lex
Luther’s father, Lionel Luther, is the CEO that gives all Coorperate America a bad name. He tries to
pressure the Kents and others into bad financial decisions which will seem right in the short run, but
will lead to their utter ruin in the long run.
Lex, in order to reassure Clark, says that “His dad (Lionel) may try to control the world, but Clark’s dad,
Jonathan Kent, will inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. How will the
meek inherit the earth? They meek can remain meek because they are filled with gift of Grace. The
gift of God that makes them persevere and makes them fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds
worth the distance run.
What does this have to do with our fourth day?
Joe Wolfe was a team member for a weekend when I became de-facto Team Coordinator. He gave the
rollo on Formation his presentation had a recurring theme which left an indelible impression on me.
God says “To Know Me, Is To Love Me, To Love Me is to Serve Me.
We cannot know God by increasing our Formation without His gift of Grace to guide us to the right
subject matter and to make it a habit. We cannot increase our Holiness without God reaching out and
pouring his gift of Grace upon us as we seek him. We cannot be successful in our Evangelization
without God’s gift of grace to show us where and how to work.
Without Grace, there is no life, only existence. Our Lord says, in the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John,
“I, myself, am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live
forever……If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
John 6: 51 and 53
The day he created us, he gave us our lives. Then, so that we could know how to live the lives he gave
us, He gave us his life. What greater love, what greater gift, what greater grace can there be?
And so, finally, here at the last, we now know what Grace is. Grace is God, giving Himself to us whether
we’re aware of it or not, every time we need Him and allowing himself to become part of us. “We hold a
treasure, not made of gold, in earthen vessels, wealth untold. One treasure only: the Lord the Christ; in
earthen vessels.
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