Living Holiness in Today's World: Week 2 Part 1

Bible study on “Living Catholic Holiness in Today’s World”. Come and learn about the meaning of holiness, the traits of being Catholic, the universal call to holiness, the dangers to avoid in one’s spiritual journey and much, much more!

Mondays, starting Monday, August 19, at 6:30 p.m. in Meeting Rooms H & I upstairs in the Pastoral Center or Wednesdays, starting Wednesday, August 21, at 9:30 a.m. in Meeting Rooms H & I upstairs in the Pastoral Center.

Christopher G. O'Donnell, bsp, is the Director of Catechetical Ministry at San Rafael Parish in San Diego, CA.

Vatican link to Gaudete et Exsultate
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20180319_gaudete-et-exsultate.html

The Lord Calls
- "be holy, for I am Holy" (Lev. 11:44, Pet 1:16)
- "all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord - each in his or her own way - to that perfect holiness by which the Father Himself is perfect." (Gaudete et Exsultate 46)

Adapting the spiritual life to one's ability, vocation, gender, and state in life. (Gaudete et Exsultate 12)

For You Too
- We are called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves. (Gaudete et Exsultate 14)

LIFE SITUATION WAY TO LIVE IN HOLINESS
Consecrated Live out your vows and commitment joyfully
Married Love and care for your spouse as Christ does for the Church
Laborer Work with integrity and skill in the service of others
Parent/Grandparent Patiently teach children how to follow Jesus
Position of authority Work for the common good and renounce all personal gain

4 Important points to help us life the life of holiness:
1. “Turn to God in every situation”;
2. “When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness, raise your eyes to Christ crucified”;
3. Ask Jesus constantly for mercy (= “Lord, I am a poor sinner, but You can work the miracle of making me a little bit better”); and,
4. Use the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed upon the Church: “the gifts of Scripture, the sacraments, holy places, living communities, the witness of the saints.”

- Holiness grows primarily through continuous "small gestures" of love rather than through momentous events and practices. (Gaudete et Exsultate 16)

- By letting ourselves be guided by divine grace every day through innumerable small gestures of love we discover that we are insufficient by our own power but are called to be stewards of this continual grace of God. (Gaudete et Exsultate 17)

Your Mission in Christ

- Every single Christian has a vocation—a mission—to which they have been called. No matter what state in life that they are called to, whether marriage, the priesthood, or consecrated life, there is only a single vocation, for “this is the will of God, your holiness.” (1 Thes. 4:3) And we pursue this holiness through a life of charity, by loving Christ in God (which means obeying his commandments), especially the most foundational two-fold command of love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The Lord Jesus commands us to proclaim him to all the world: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20)
- A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness...Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel. (Gaudete et Exsultate 19)
- The foundation of all holiness "is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of His life. It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord's death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him. (Gaudete et Exsultate 20)
- Our mission and vocation "is to reflect Jesus to the world, to help build up his kingdom, and to uniquely live out the Gospel and the God-spoken message of your life" in everything that we do in life every day. (Hasse, Practical Holiness, 17)
Aspects of Jesus' life of self sacrificing love that are especially worthy of emulating:
- Jesus' hidden life of faith;
- Jesus' experience and life of poverty
- Jesus' life in the community (both Israel's communal worship and his relationship with his disciples);
- Jesus' reaching out to the outcast and sinner.