EDITORIAL

Signs of salvation

In our materialistic culture many people have immersed themselves into earthly goods to such an extent that they do not take God seriously, even though many say with their lips that they believe in God. Their actions, however, belie their words. As St. Ignatius Loyola said, love is shown more by deeds than it is by words.

One of the many consequences of a life of self-indulgence is that a person loses hope in eternal life. This attitude often results in a loss of a sense of joy in life and ultimately ends up in despair. This situation accounts for many of the suicides in our society, especially among teenagers. By the age of seventeen they have tried everything, but they have not found the happiness they were searching for so they take their own lives.

God created us for a purpose. We know from philosophy with absolute certitude that every agent acts for an end. For example, during rush hour the highways are crowded with cars and every one of them is going somewhere. Each driver is directing his car to some definite place or he has some reason for driving, even if it is just the joy of driving. Every agent acts for an end.

The same principle applies to Almighty God. As we say in the Catechism, he created us to know him, to love him, to serve him in this life and to be happy with him forever in the next life. Man is made in the image of God and he has great dignity because God has destined him to share his own abundant life for all eternity.

Some Catholics are very apprehensive about their eternal salvation—about whether or not they will make it to heaven. Of course, there are also those who, erroneously, deny the reality of sin and hell and so think that everyone goes to heaven no matter what he does in this life. At present I am not concerned about that particular error. The point I want to make here is that there are certain signs or indications that one is on the right path to heaven.

It is not a matter of having absolute certitude about one’s salvation, as some of the Protestants in the 16th century said. The Catholic Church says that no one can know “with the certitude of faith, which cannot admit of any error, that he has obtained God’s grace” (Denzinger 1533). Likewise, no one can know with complete certitude that he will persevere in sanctifying grace and die in the state of grace, unless he has received a special revelation from God. For man’s will always remains changeable; the evil can convert and become good, just as the good can sin and become evil. Only God knows who will die in grace, something which in itself is a great grace and gift of God.

But because of the goodness and mercy of God, we have solid reason to believe and to hope that we will be saved if we do God’s will here and now. The Imitation of Christ says: “Thou must preserve a good and firm hope of winning the victory; but must not think thyself secure, lest thou grow negligent or proud” (Bk. I, Ch. 25).

Are there any signs by which I can know that I am in the state of grace and that I will make it to heaven? Yes there are. Fathers of the Church and St. Thomas Aquinas (I-II, 112, a. 5) think there are certain signs which give moral certitude that one is in the state of grace. The common signs are: keeping the Commandments for a long time, devotion to Christ and to his Blessed Mother, hatred of sin, contempt for worldly things and love of heavenly things, and peace of soul. Anyone who finds those signs in his life can be morally certain that he possesses the grace of God and, if he perseveres, will enter into eternal life.

Kenneth Baker, S.J., Editor

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