We recognize that the Sacraments have a visible and invisible reality, open to all the human senses but grasped in God-given depths with the eyes of faith. For example, when parents hug their children, the visible reality is the hug. The invisible reality the hug conveys is love. We cannot "s e" the love the hug expresses, though sometimes we can see its nurturing effect on the child. The visible reality in the Sacraments is their outward expression, the form they take, and how they are administered and received. The invisible reality we cannot "see" is God's grace, his gracious initiative in redeeming us through the death and Resurrection of his Son. His initiative is called race because it is the free and loving gift by which he offers people a share in his life and shows us his favor and will for our salvation. Our response to the grace of God's initiative is a grace or gift from God by which we can imitate Christ in our daily lives.