Archbishop Chaput on "Amazing Grace" and the Task of Living Our Faith More Deeply

Archbishop writes in the Denver Catholic Register:

‘Amazing Grace’ and the task of living our faith more deeply

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.”

Whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, nearly every American Christian knows John Newton’s beautiful hymn, “Amazing Grace.” Believers have sung it for more than 200 years. Its words and melody speak to one of the deepest instincts of the human heart: the need for deliverance. Like St. Augustine before him, Newton discovered that “our hearts are restless until they rest in (God).”

A former slave trader, Newton converted to Christianity during a storm on the Atlantic. He later became one of the leading Christian evangelizers of his day in England as an Anglican priest. But he never forgot his role in the slave trade. He spent the rest of his life repenting for it and preaching against it. He understood from direct experience that real personal conversion must have broader consequences. If we claim to love God, then we need to prove it with our actions. Slavery, Newton saw, violated human dignity in a profound way.

Newton did more than write a memorable hymn, however. His life had a huge impact on others — among them the son of a wealthy merchant named William Wilberforce. Like Newton, Wilberforce underwent his own Christian conversion. He took Newton’s anti-slavery message into Parliament in 1789, where he became the leading voice against slavery for the next 18 years. Largely because of Wilberforce, England abolished the slave trade throughout its empire in 1807 — the same year Newton died.

Last week, the story of William Wilberforce and John Newton opened in theaters throughout the United States in the new film by Walden Media, “Amazing Grace.” It’s a compelling movie; a beautifully written, acted and directed portrait of a man — Wilberforce — on fire with his faith and its consequences. Inspired by Newton, Wilberforce literally reshaped the conscience of the modern world. Walden Media is the same company that brought the wonderful “Chronicles of Narnia” to the screen in 2005. It’s easy to recommend a film like “Amazing Grace” because the story is so powerful and so very well done. But it’s also an ideal source of personal reflection as we begin our own journey of Lent.

As long as we have breath, God offers us the chance for repentance and conversion, and through them, a path to eternal life in Jesus Christ. St. Paul, St. Augustine and St. Ignatius all took that path. So did William Wilberforce and a self-described former slaver and “wretch” like John Newton. In fact, every Christian man or woman who takes the Gospel seriously must walk the same road. Lent is the season every year when the Church encourages us to repentance and conversion in a special way. We urgently need to use this time well.

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The story of “Amazing Grace” teaches a vital lesson for every believer. Every true Christian conversion has consequences that go far beyond the individual. A Christian life, lived well, helps to change the world in the name of Jesus Christ. That’s our vocation as Catholics. And Lent is the time to claim it.