Grace within you

Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Illinois

August 2008

Benedictine Sisters monastery grounds at St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Ill

Steps
Discerning your path in life

God's Grace Within You

By God's grace, I am what I am. - Rule of Benedict

Come, not to discuss
the words of others,
But to listen . . .
For in the sacredness of every moment
Divine Grace is telling you alone
all that is required.
- Jean Pierre de Caussade

Grace - the path to God through God - is manifest at the oddest moments. You might hear a song in the car that suddenly pierces your heart with a certain understanding, or you might find yourself overcome with gratitude for having been able to offer assistance to a stranger in need.

Or you might find that you have taken an unexpected step in your discernment journey.

For Sr. Mary Core, OSB, a life-changing moment of grace came during her discernment when, seated next to a window and pondering her life, she asked God for a sign.

"It began to snow, great white flakes, softly swirling through the air," she says. "I suddenly, deeply knew that I was on the right path. I entered our community shortly after."

Not all moments of grace come in response to a request for a sign, of course. But God speaks to and through us all the time. Sometimes we just have to be open to it.

"You have to be open to change to become what you are supposed to be," the Benedictine Sisters' initial formation director says. "And you have to listen."

Sr. Mary suggests several ways to do that.

"Grace is God's life in us," she says. "God has given us several tools to become conscious of God within us. Pray the Psalms, practice Lectio, receive the sacraments. They are the outward signs or symbols of God's grace. If we use these tools in such a way as to lead us to greater awareness of God's life within us, we allow God's will for us to become manifest."