It has been a little while since I had anything to say about the fact that we are saved by grace alone. So I will just slip this little post in here to correct that. The Catechism teaches thus:
It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment. (CCC §2121; emphasis added)
See also §1578, where it says this about the Sacrament of Holy Orders:
Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift. (emphasis added)
This is why St. Augustine once said that when God rewards our merits, He is really only crowning His own gifts to us. Our merits themselves are gifts of grace.
Aquinas, Etc. 
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