Galatians 6:8-9
For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.
Certain non-Catholic theologies tend to divide everything up into "faith vs. works" and speak as though all you have to do is "believe in Jesus in your heart" and nothing you do matters. Such theologies tend to speak of Catholic faith as a system of "grace plus works" and to claim we Catholics think we have to add nice things to the grace of Christ in order to earn divine brownie points and put God in our debt. Today's verse describes what both Scripture and Catholic faith teach. Jesus promises us "reward" not just for "believing in Him in our heart" but for doing what He commands. If we obey Him and continue to do so even when we are persecuted for doing so, we will be "rewarded" greatly. So are we earning our salvation? No. We are incarnating our salvation, putting flesh on the word in our hearts just as the Word Who is God became flesh in our world. We are "sowing to the Spirit," exercising the muscle called "faith" so that it gets stronger. All of this is only possible because grace has already come to us. But when we do it, we discover our capacity for grace increases just as when we exercise our muscles we find ourselves getting stronger. But the whole enchilada — the muscles, the exercise, the food that strengthens us, the very air we breathe — is all gift, all grace. We receive a reward for it is really us who do these things, yet the reward is God Himself for it is really He enables us to do them. "I am your shield, your reward shall be very great" (Gn 15:1).
