Merit
Is merit a preoccupation for you in your spiritual life?
I’m more accustomed to viewing everything as a grace, unmerited, dispensed through God’s mercy. It’s the Thereseian influence in my life, that directs my attitude. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face often said she presented to God empty handed, without regard for her self, trusting in His merciful love.
St. Faustina and the devotion to the Divine Mercy has also influenced me deeply. Having lived a sinful life, anything good I may appear to do, seems to me to be the result of the Divine Mercy and grace.
For instance, if I perform a good action, I never evaluate it, or say to God, “I did this good deed, so you must reward me.” Rather, I recall Our Lord’s words in the Gospel in response to his disciples. After fulfilling one’s duty, he tells them, “Say, ‘We are useless servants, we have only done our duty.’”
Therese cautioned her novices that their good deeds were often filled with self-seeking, motivated by self-love. Therefore, in my limited understanding, the preoccupation one might have to accumulate merit seems to involve a great deal of self love.
Nevertheless, our prayers are always focused upon the ultimate merit, that of attaining heaven, hence we pray, “Make us worthy of the promises of Christ.” Or, “Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” Naturally, we are concerned about meriting heaven, eternal life - that is our goal. Of course we must labor and work towards our ultimate goal, cooperating with the grace of God, trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ.
Today, a friend mentioned to me that a non-Catholic, or a soul in mortal sin cannot merit anything through their good works. In the strict theological sense, I expect this is true. However, when one is told it is useless to pray, to do good or perform charitable works, because they cannot gain merit, this seems in error. It is my understanding that Grace precedes merit, while it disposes, or inspires one to pray or perform an act of charity. This would seem to me to be the case even in the state of natural goodness. Consider the case in the Old Testament of Rahab the harlot (Joshua: 6); she was obviously a sinner, yet was blessed for her faith and good deeds.
St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “Prayer is the trap door out of sin.” If a soul prays he is certain to be heard, especially when it concerns his salvation. Just so, I would think that good works, and charity would be weighed in the balance of one’s life at the final judgement.
I’m certainly no theologian, however, New Advent has a great segment on “Merit” while Catholic Answers has something more concise, a section of which I reprint here:
“Paul tells us: “For [God] will reward every man according to his works: to those who by perseverance in working good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. There will be . . . glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:6–11; cf. Gal. 6:6–10).In the second century, the technical Latin term for “merit” was introduced as a synonym for the Greek word for “reward.” Thus merit and reward are two sides of the same coin.Protestants often misunderstand the Catholic teaching on merit, thinking that Catholics believe that one must do good works to come to God and be saved. This is exactly the opposite of what the Church teaches. The Council of Trent stressed: “[N]one of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification; for if it is by grace, it is not now by works; otherwise, as the Apostle [Paul] says, grace is no more grace” (Decree on Justification 8, citing Rom. 11:6).The Catholic Church teaches only Christ is capable of meriting in the strict sense—mere man cannot (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2007). The most merit humans can have is condign—when, under the impetus of God’s grace, they perform acts which please him and which he has promised to reward (Rom. 2:6–11, Gal. 6:6–10). Thus God’s grace and his promise form the foundation for all human merit (CCC 2008).” - Catholic Answers
Go to the sites highlighted if you are confused. And consider what John of the Cross said, ‘in the evening of life we will be judged on love alone.’
Prayer obtains all. That is why total consecration to Our Lady, committing our salvation along with any merits, to her, for her to take care of, is enough for me. But I am indeed a useless servant, only doing my duty, and not very well at that.
Never discourage a soul from prayer or good works, Jew, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, or a public sinner - God alone knows the soul and judges accordingly.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I was in mortal sin for many years, and I know that God heard me. I remember begging him, even out of my own mortal sin, to have mercy on me and not to give up on me.
It was not by my own merit that I recognized my need for salvation; it was God’s grace alone.
I remember how a friend, at the right moment, gave me a sheet of paper with various “objections” on it with God’s answer which made a huge difference in my life. For example, when I would say, “I can’t do this”, God’s answer to that was “My grace is sufficient” and it would give the Bible verse.
But the one that always stood out to me said, “God can always hear you.”
It is not God who cuts himself off from us; it is we, through our sinfulness, that cuts ourself off from God. He will continue to hear our prayers, even from the depths of our depravity. No, God will not endorse our sin, but rather, he will give us the grace to recognize the sin and reach further towards Him so that He can help us to escape.
God will not overcome the free will he gave us; He will let us call out to him, and He will never stop seeking us out. He will never give up on us.
I used to pray constantly, “Please don’t give up on me, Lord. Please don’t give up on me.”
Sometimes I still say that prayer.
And God has always answered. From the very depths of his love, far greater than my worst depravity, he continues to answer this prayer.
God can always hear the sinner, for he calls each and every one of us his chldren.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Thanks Julie.
When I was living in sin, my prayer was, “Be patient with me, I can’t come back yet.”
He wasn’t patient however, and grabbed me shortly after that prayer.
January 31st, 2007 at 7:58 am
I lived rather slothfully in sin for over 20 years. I knew it, but didn’t have the will to repent. I was embarrassed and I was afraid.
Without my asking, somehow the knowledge of Jesus’ Divine Mercy showed up in my life.
And even with that prayer, it has taken a long to time to get me to today, and there is still a very long way ahead in my spiritual journey. Lots of repair work to do.
Sloth is still a problem with me. And I know that I can’t make up for all my sins of deed and omission that I have committed in the past. And some still today on occasion.
I can’t even conceive as to what it must be like to possess the humility that some of the saints like the Little Flower, St Therese of Lesieux, had.
And even though I know what it means, I’m not sure I know how to “offer it up” when I am presented with inconveniences and suffering. So I don’t. Help.
I pray, a lot, but mostly without specific intentions, figuring God knows what I need better than I do.
What I need and want most of all is salvation and Jesus’ Divine Mercy is my only chance of making it to heaven.
January 31st, 2007 at 11:49 am
The idea of earning merit is an old one in the Catholic religion. The problem comes in when people focus on it too much and start wondering how much they have. And then it gets really dangerous when you sin and start wondering how much you lost and then it’s a mad dash to the indulgences books to rack up some more. Can you imagine people let alone saints climbing over each other on their way to heaven? “Oops, scuse me I just earned a bunch of merit.” Like we’re game pieces on a playing board or something. Or even worse is this idea of “How close do you want to be to God?” Non-Catholic Christians prolly do go to far in discrediting merit altogether but some Catholics really do try to earn salvation by their works. I believe St. Teresa of Avila talks about the interior castle and the mansions of the spiritual life. *Any* spiritual director worth their salt will say don’t worry about what mansion you’re in, just pray. I think the same could be said about merit. Don’t worry about it, just do good. IMHO. (:
January 31st, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Annonymous:
It never occured to me that anyone would worry themselves over trying to figure out how much merit they have–it’s not like its a Catholic point system or something. I always thought of merit as something only God can measure, the measure of a soul. So I think you pegged it when you said not to worry about it, but just do good.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Hey, Ronnie. I think you’re right and while the Church officially teaches that it’s not a point system…what else are people supposed to think when you have numbers attached to various prayers and stuff? Or look at the St. Therese beads. What the heck is that but counting up your deeds for the day? I remember trying to do that and finally I said, “This is lame.” and quit.
I think when people focus too much on “being good” they’ll find that they’ll never measure up. Equally true, when people focus on their “evils” they despair. What’s a person to do? Live and don’t worry about it. Or as my good friend says, “Just don’t think about it.” (: Again, IMHO
April 10th, 2007 at 5:33 am
About 3 years ago I dropped into a black hole – four months of absolute terror. I wanted to end my life, but somehow [Holy Spirit], I reached out to a friend who took me to hospital. I had three visits [hospital] in four months – I actually thought I was in hell. I imagine I was going through some sort of metamorphosis [mental, physical & spiritual]. I had been seeing a therapist [1994] on a regular basis, up until this point in time. I actually thought I would be locked away – but the hospital staff was very supportive [I had no control over my process]. I was released from hospital 16th September 1994, but my fear, pain & shame had only subsided a little. I remember this particular morning waking up [home] & my process would start up again [fear, pain, & shame]. No one could help me, not even my therapist [I was terrified]. I asked Jesus Christ to have mercy on me & forgive me my sins. Slowly, all my fear has dissipated & I believe Jesus delivered me from my “psychological prison.” I am a practicing Catholic & the Holy Spirit is my friend & strength; every day since then has been a joy & blessing. I deserve to go to hell for the life I have led, but Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross, delivered me from my inequities. John 3: 8, John 15: 26, are verses I can relate to, organically. He’s a real person who is with me all the time. I have so much joy & peace in my life, today, after a childhood spent in orphanages [England & Australia]. God LOVES me so much. Fear, pain, & shame, are no longer my constant companions. I just wanted to share my experience with you [Luke 8: 16 – 17].
Peace Be With You
Micky