YOUCAT Question n. 279 - Part II. Why do we need faith and the sacraments in order to live a good, upright life?
(Youcat
answer - repeated) If we were to rely only on ourselves and our own strength,
we would not get far in our attempts to be good. Through faith we discover that
we are God’s children and that God makes us strong. When God gives us his
strength, we call this “grace”. Especially in the sacred signs that we call the
Sacraments, God gives us the ability actually to do the good that we want to
do.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 1694)
Incorporated into Christ by Baptism,
Christians are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" and so
participate in the life of the Risen Lord (Rom 6:11 and cf. 6:5; cf. Col 2:12).
Following Christ and united with him (Cf. Jn 15:5), Christians can strive to be
"imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love" (Eph 5:1-2) by conforming their thoughts,
words and actions to the "mind… which is yours in Christ Jesus" (Phil
2:5), and by following his example (Cf. Jn 13:12-16).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) Since God saw our misery, he “delivered us
from the dominion of darkness” (Col 1:13) through his Son, Jesus Christ. He
granted us the opportunity to make a new start in fellowship with him and to
walk the path of love.
(CCC Comment) (CCC 1695) "Justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (2 Cor 6:11),
"sanctified … (and) called to be saints" (1 Cor 1:2), Christians have
become the temple of the Holy Spirit
(Cf. 1 Cor 6:19). This "Spirit of the Son" teaches them to pray to
the Father (Cf. Gal 4:6) and, having become their life, prompts them to act so
as to bear "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22, 25) by charity in
action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through
a spiritual transformation (Cf. Eph 4:23). He enlightens and strengthens us to
live as "children of light" through "all that is good and right
and true" (Eph 5:8, 9).
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