Salvation is a process which began when Christ died on the Cross; which continues as we are saved day by day from committing such sins; but which will not be complete until that day of final salvation hereafter when the soul has been purified of the effects of every sin that has ever defiled it.

These three stages are set out in the  Prayer of General Thanksgiving when we thank God above all for his inestimable love in the redemption of the world by Our Lord Jesus Christ; then for the means of grace now; and lastly for the hope of glory in the life to come.

What practical use, then, are we making of that power in which Christ conquered sin and which he gives us unstintingly in the Sacraments of the Church in order that we may do likewise?  That is a question for each to give his or her own answer as the truth stands.

Let us then, as we consider the cost to Our Blessed Lord of our salvation, give him our faithful promise that we will from now on, resolutely set out with the help he gives us, to become the sort of people he means us to be; so that one day as he surveys his work of salvation in us, he may be able to say, “It is finished”.