Grace and Wilde

Grace is like the air that we breathe. We cannot see it, but we can feel it and we cannot have eternal Life without it. Grace is “….. the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God…..partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life…it surpasses the power of human intellect and will…is infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1994)
Sometimes we want to be the purveyors of grace ourselves. We make judgments about others based on our perception of their lifestyle, and we make judgments upon ourselves based on our self-hatred. We forget that every single person on this earth, past, present and future, has been bought at the same price---the oblation of God’s son, and we forget that God our loving Father does not will even one soul to be lost forever. Some people undoubtedly reject the gift of grace and end up lost. And yet, we must remain ever hopeful and mindful of God’s mercy and of our part in his plan.
Oscar Wilde, 19th century Irish author of great ability, made an enduring name for himself as a man who stepped outside of his time in terms of his sexual lifestyle. His autobiographical novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the story of a young man, groomed into a promiscuous lifestyle through the enchantment of an older man. Self-love was his weakness and he fell to the sirens of hedonism. Wilde himself, became predatory in seeking youthful partners to satisfy his addiction. While being the eccentric and intelligent darling of the artsy population, he was not a happy person. Insights into his soul are to be found in his novel and in his poetry. Wilde lived in the spiritual agony which Paul hinted at, bemoaning the willingness of his spirit and the weakness of his flesh.
After spending some time in jail, Wilde walked away from his life, spending his last three years in isolation. He had a close Christian friend who refused to take him seriously when he requested some support in seeking out the Church for help. Eventually, a young priest found his way to the dying man’s bedside and shepherded him back to peace with God. The point is, Christians should be there for their friends, ready to help nurture with Christ’s love, any stirring of grace in that person’s soul.
“Come down, O Christ and help me! Reach thy hand, for I am drowning in a stormier sea than Simon on thy lake of Galilee: the wine of life is spilt upon the sand, My heart is as some famine murdered land, Whence all good things have perished utterly, and well I know my soul in Hell must lie, If I this night before God’s throne should stand….Nay peace, I shall behold , before the night,, the feet of brass, the robe more white than flame, the wounded hands, the weary human face.” E Tenebris, Wilde