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Grace is the free and undeserved gift that God gives us to respond to our vocation to become his adopted children. As sanctifying grace, God shares his divine life and friendship with us in a habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that enables the soul to live with God and to act by his love. As actual grace, God gives us the help to conform our lives to his will. Sacramental grace and special graces are gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us live out our Christian vocation.

Grace

From the creation story in Genesis, the Church has learned that humanity was originally created in a state of holiness and justice and that the first ancestors of the human race lost this state for themselves and all humanity by their sin ("original sin"). Christ is called the "second" or "new Adam" because he ushered in the new creation by forgiving sin and restoring humanity to the grace of God's friendship lost by original sin.

Creation of Man

Angels are spiritual, personal, and immortal creatures, with intelligence and free will, who glorify God without ceasing and who serve God as messengers of his saving plan. Scripture mentions nine choirs of angels and the church teaches that each person has a guardian angel.

Creation of Angels

Virtues are habits of right behavior. We receive the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity at Baptism. They have as their aim to unite us to God through Jesus Christ. Saint Paul says charity is the most important of the three because without charity faith and hope are imperfect.

Theological Virtues

Justification is the gracious action of God which frees us from sin and communicates "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ." (Rom.3:22) Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior person.

Justification