Once a week, every week, from 2nd to 8th grade, I went to mass with my entire Catholic school. I attended hundreds of school masses, but one year there was a common theme in every sermon — grace.
“What is grace?” Our priest would ask the basilica-sized church filled with children.
“God’s love touching us,” we would all answer in unison.
“I can’t hear you,” the priest would respond.
“GOD’S LOVE TOUCHING US,” 200+ little voices would say again.
This Q&A has stuck with me for years, but it wasn’t until recently that I really started thinking about the meaning behind it. The Catholic definition of grace is “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.” Basically, grace is an undeserved, free gift of God’s kindness that leads us toward redemption.
‘God’s love touching us’ is the perfect way to explain what grace is to a church full of young minds. It is just that — God’s unwavering love for us affecting our lives when we need it most.
This memory stirred in my mind when I first saw the phrase ‘bloom with grace.’ From the moment I saw it, I thought it was beautiful. My mind churned with interpretations of the three words.
Outside of Catholicism, ‘bloom with grace’ translates to ‘coming into full beauty with simple elegance.’ Inside of Catholicism, the phrase means ‘coming into full beauty with the blessings of God.’
Beautifully growing in life, whether it be professionally, personally or spiritually, with poise and humbleness; beautifully growing with God’s love touching our lives. Either way, ‘bloom with grace’ holds such a lovely meaning. It reminds me to use every experience and challenge as an opportunity to grow.
Growth can be painful, but it’s a little easier when you do it with grace.