"Name something you have that you have not received. If, then, you have received it, why are you boasting as if it were your own?" (1 Cor 4:7) "Yet in no way can a man redeem himself, or pay his own ransom to God" (Ps 49:8). "We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth" (Is 26:18). "All our good deeds are like polluted rags" (Is 64:5). Apart from Jesus we "can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). "God it is Who has given you life in Christ Jesus. He has made Him our Wisdom and also our Justice, our Sanctification, and our Redemption. This is just as you find it written, 'Let him who would boast, boast in the Lord' " (1 Cor 1:30-31).

We were lost, doomed, and helpless. God the Father had mercy on us and sent Jesus to save us and give us new life in the Spirit. Thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for your saving grace and amazing mercy to us in our helpless, doomed, human condition.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, July 28, 1999

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 3, 1999