The topic of grace can be deep and complex, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines grace as “a participation in the life of God.”
There are different types of grace, such as sanctifying, habitual, and actual, but those are topics for another time. For this discussion, we will simply define grace as an unearned gift from God. It is something that God freely gives us out of His sheer goodness and love, and there is nothing we can do to merit or earn it. With that said, He gives it to us for a purpose. We are to use that grace in growing in relationship and service to Him and others. In other words, we must cooperate with that grace to do His will for our lives. These gifts are not meant to be collected and warehoused. They are intended to be used in service to God, the Church, and others.
It is essential to understand grace’s role in our lives today and our eternal lives in heaven. Scripture tells us that there are different rewards in heaven. How we cooperate with God’s grace plays a part in that.
St. Therese of Lisieux reminds us that “everything is grace.” Even our ability to receive grace is, in and of itself, grace. Paul reminds us in Ephesians chapter 4 that the ministry of the Church requires a diversity of gifts. Christ grants those gifts in different measures to different people. While this is an important distinction, we are equally accountable to cooperate with whatever level of gifts we are given. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Paul tells us: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.”
In review, everything is grace; grace is an unearned gift and comes from God out of love; grace is diverse and is given to different people in different measures as God wishes; grace is the gift(s) that we are to use in bringing others to Christ; we are accountable in terms of if or how we cooperate with and use those gifts to do God’s will in our lives, and our rewards in heaven will be determined by that level of cooperation. St. Teresa of Avila explains that we don’t need to ask God for the general help of His grace; we need to humbly acknowledge the grace He has already provided and its presence within us.
Our capacity for grace has to do with how we pursue growth in knowledge and love of God and how we cooperate with the grace we have been given. Yes, God distributes grace to our capacity, but it does not mean that we cannot grow in grace and capacity for grace. (The ability to grow in grace is also grace.) In other words, we can initially be at full capacity as God wishes. Still, we are not at some arbitrary forever-maximum capacity for grace that can’t be expanded unless we choose to be. Think about our bodies as an example. God gives us muscles as he wishes. However, if we cooperate with the gift of those muscles and lift weights, we grow in our strength and muscle capacity.
So, what does this have to do with our rewards in heaven? First, whether we grow in the capacity of grace or not, if we cooperate with the full capacity of grace that God chose to give us, and if we die in that state of grace, then we will be in heaven. We will experience the fullness of the presence of God in heaven, known as the Beatific vision.
Scripture is full of references to different rewards in heaven. In John 14:2, Jesus tells us that in His Father’s house are many mansions. Many of the Church Fathers, including St. Augustine, said that this refers to levels of rewards. In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul reminds us that those who sow sparingly shall reap sparingly (notice he doesn’t say they will not reap at all), and those who sow blessings will reap blessings. Jesus indicates the diversity of gifts and our accountability when he tells us that to whom much is given, much is required. The parable of the five talents In Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14, shows that different people are given different amounts; however, we are held accountable in the measure of what we do with those gifts, regardless of the number of gifts. In Matthew 16:27, Jesus says, “For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.”
We should not look at the word “reward” in the material sense as we know it. Instead, we should think about it in terms of our understanding, knowledge, love, and relationship or experience in the presence of God when we get to heaven. It’s no different from our spiritual reward on earth in the context of our relationship with God. If we grow in knowledge and relationship on earth, our earthly spiritual experience is more profound.
In terms of our salvation, if we have cooperated with God to the fullness of our capacity for grace, then we will reach heaven. We will share in the Beatific vision with complete joy. Although everyone who dies in God’s friendship will receive eternal life and be rewarded to his full capacity, the capacity of each, and therefore their reward, will be different. However, if we live our lives in a way that increases our capacity for grace and cooperate with that grace, then we will have a more profound experience in the actual presence of God. There will be no envy in terms of different rewards because everyone is experiencing joy to the level of their full capacity of grace.
Once again, calling on St. Therese, who thought a lot about different rewards in heaven, and speaking with her mom, said: “You knew all my intimate thoughts and cleared up all my doubts. I once told you how astonished I was that God does not give equal glory in heaven to all His chosen. I was afraid they were not at all equally happy. You made me bring Daddy’s tumbler and put it by the side of my thimble. You filled them both with water and asked me which was fuller. I told you they were both full to the brim and that it was impossible to put more water in them than they could hold. And so, Mother darling, you made me understand that in heaven, God will give His chosen their fitting glory and that the last will have no reason to envy the first. By such means, you made me understand the most sublime mysteries and gave my soul its essential food.” –St. Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul. (New York: Double Day, 2001) 20.
She also beautifully describes why God chooses to give different gifts to different people when she says, “I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace […] Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me, and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendor of the rose and whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realized that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness, and there would be no wildflowers to make the meadows gay. It is just the same in the world of souls — which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints, and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down.”
How can we be proactive and grow in the capacity of grace so that we can have the higher reward of a more profound experience with God in heaven? Think about what makes your earthly spiritual life more rewarding. Examples would include sincere prayer (St. Teresa of Calcutta says, “Prayer makes your heart bigger until it is capable of containing the gift of God himself”), attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, adoration, being still and present before God, commitment to doing God’s will in your life, study and desire for a deeper understanding and knowledge of the faith and scripture, being obedient to the apostolic teachings of the Church, evangelizing to others, providing spiritual and corporate works of mercy to the “least of these” as commanded by Christ in Matthew 25, living and proclaiming the Gospel, discerning God’s will, and being ready with the answer: “here I am, Lord,” when you find it.
Remember, the rewards are about experiencing the actual presence of God, not about rewards as we know them. Here is an example. There is a live opera that will be performed at a local theater. In the crowd, there are people with different levels of knowledge of the art of opera. A person will be given limited knowledge and understanding (capacity) of voice, music, composition, acting, octaves, and singing. They attend the opera, appreciate the art, and leave 100% happy and satisfied to the level of their understanding of what they just experienced. Also in the audience is a person who was also given the same limited knowledge as the first person. However, during his life, he proactively pursued a more profound knowledge and understanding of opera. Perhaps he went to school to learn about music. Maybe he took voice lessons, acting classes, and learned how music is composed and integrated with lyrics. It’s possible that he, himself, became an opera singer. Because he proactively increased his capacity for the understanding and knowledge of opera, he could experience the same show on a much deeper level and appreciation for what he experienced. Like the first person, he also left the opera 100% happy and satisfied, but his experience, or reward for having increased his capacity for appreciating the opera, was felt at a much more profound level.
The Church teaches that we, too, can experience the presence of God in different ways, according to our capacity for grace. First, we must cooperate with the capacity of grace that God has chosen to give us. Then, we can pursue increasing that capacity by growing in our relationship and knowledge so that we can experience the Beatific vision in much the same way as Saint Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and all the Saints of God.