Several years ago, I used to see a series of commercials on cable advertising gold as a lucrative investment opportunity. The pitch was that gold is a solid, reliable commodity. National currencies, which have derivative value, were presented in at least one commercial as being “unreliable.”

Whether these advertisements were accurate or not, they do give us an analogy to help us understand the Christian life. The culturally savvy will remember the 1980s Tears for Fears anthem, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and its lyric, “Nothing ever lasts forever.”

The assertion that nothing lasts forever is nearly true! The things of this world are temporary and finite, no matter how powerful they appear to be. Take the Roman Empire as an example. Rutilius Namatianus, a Roman poet of the mid-fourth century, wrote of the world’s greatest city, “No man will ever be safe if he forgets you; May I praise you still when the sun is dark. To count up the glories of Rome is like counting the stars in the sky.” Just about a half-century later, after the Visigoths sacked and occupied Rome, St. Jerome wrote, “It is the end of the world. Words fail me. My sobs break in … The city which took captive the whole world has itself been captured.”

Destruction, decay and death. These are the inevitable fates of all that is earthly. Sic transit gloria mundi (“So passes the glory of the world”) was a Roman proverb for precisely this reason. The inevitable conclusion for all thinking people is that we cannot live for this world, trusting in its power or endurance. So, where do we turn? Faith tells us that the answer is Christ. 

Destruction, decay and death. These are the inevitable fates of all that is earthly. Sic transit gloria mundi (“So passes the glory of the world”) was a Roman proverb for precisely this reason. The inevitable conclusion for all thinking people is that we cannot live for this world, trusting in its power or endurance. So, where do we turn?

Faith tells us that the answer is Christ. As the Second Vatican Council and Pope St. John Paul II teach us, Christ is the answer to which every human life is the question. His grace, divine life and power at work in us is the only “commodity” on which we can rely with absolute trust.

This message of God’s grace is at the heart of Jesus’ preaching, from the Sermon on the Mount to the eschatological discourses, one of which we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 21:5-19). Christ teaches that the Temple, which was the locus of God’s presence par excellence, would not last. Human relationships often fail. The very world itself will end. But the power of Christ endures. He gives his followers life, power, his words of truth, the strength to persevere, and the promise of sharing in God’s life forever.

Grace is the “solid commodity” upon which we can safely stake our lives. But what is God’s grace?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (pars. 1996-2005), grace is the gift of God’s own life, the life of His Holy Spirit within us. Grace justifies us, putting us into a right relationship with God and equipping us to respond positively to His invitation to live as His adopted sons and daughters. We do not earn God’s grace; it is a freely given gift. God lavishes His grace upon us out of the sheer gratuity of His love for us.

Grace is given in baptism, strengthened in the Eucharist, restored in confession. In His fidelity, God never withdraws His grace from us if we do not forfeit it by sin. The life of grace is the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price to which Jesus refers in the Gospel. It is that for which any sacrifice is worthwhile.

Grace is also a “game changer” for every Christian. It changes our way of seeing and thinking, of choosing and acting. A positive response to God’s grace necessarily involves that we embark wholeheartedly on a new life, on the adventure of Christian discipleship.

Finally, grace prepares us for the “day of the Lord,” that future day when God will manifest His power over all creation and Christ will come again in glory. It is God’s grace that allows us to live in such a way that we can meet the day of the Lord with confidence and hope, rather than fear and despair.

In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a supernova of God’s grace is unleashed on the altar and given to us as Food and Drink. In every celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we pray that God will strengthen in us the power of His life, so that we might never lose heart, but persevere to the end, and enjoy true life with Him forever.

Fr. Charles Fox is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit currently assigned to the theology faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He is also a weekend associate pastor at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township and chaplain and a board member of St. Paul Evangelization Institute, headquartered in Warren.