Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Opening Prayer
God our Father, source of all light, illuminate our hearts and minds this day as we study your call to each of us to be holy as you are holy. Bless our time together this day. Help us in this first year of formation to reflect on what it truly means to be an authentic Catholic in today s world. Help us to focus on your will for our lives. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Overview
The Universal Call to Holiness? Why called to Holiness? What is Holiness? Holiness A Vocation A Special Kind of Love Our Longing for God By Virtue of Our Baptism An Indelible Spiritual Mark An Exalted Vocation the Vocation of Man Pope John Paul II on Holiness All are Called to Sainthood Is Holiness Difficult to Attain? Spiritual Sacrifices Acceptable to God The Call to Holiness Strive for Sainthood First Among Saints Lay Witnesses Divine Charity the Common Priesthood Special Task of the Laity Offered as Salvation A Plan of Action At the Beginning of the New Millennium Program for Training in Holiness Human Solidarity The People of God Light of the Nations Revisiting Lumen Gentium
What is Holiness?
An attribute of God himself God alone is holy Shared with the Baptized As members of the Mystical Body of Christ A gift A vocation
Holiness A Vocation
A call to live out In the concrete circumstances of our lives Christ s obedience Christ s love
Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:48
You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.
- St. Augustine
Life made up of divine charity And human solidarity Life graciously offered as salvation
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
A housewife & mother Formatter & Educator of other great saints Queen of all saints, pray for us!
Lay Witnesses
Pope John Paul II:
Canonized 245 lay people Beatified 215 lay people
Models & encouragement for all Holiness not just for ordained and consecrated Manifested in ordinary circumstances Living the Gospel fully & faithfully in the world Necessary to bring secular society to Christ
Offered as Salvation
Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God, should present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal life which is in them.
- Lumen Gentium Light of the Nations
(The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) Pope Paul VI, November 21, 1964
A Plan of Action
Becoming a saint not easy Road to heaven is narrow Demands training in ways of holiness Saints teach us to be saints ourselves Pope John Paul II summarized training for holiness in his apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte
Regular Confession
No growth in holiness with sin Call to repentance & conversion Our sins always put us in need of God s forgiveness
Lumen Gentium
Therefore, all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an obligation to so strive. Let all then have care that they guide aright their own deepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the things of this world nor attachment to riches, which is against the spirit of evangelical poverty, hinder them in their quest for perfect love Let them heed the admonition of the Apostle to those who use this world; let them not come to terms with this world; for this world, as we see it, is passing away.
The People of God . a witness and a living instrument of the mission of the Church
Review
The Universal Call to Holiness? Why called to Holiness? What is Holiness? Holiness A Vocation A Special Kind of Love Our Longing for God By Virtue of Our Baptism An Indelible Spiritual Mark An Exalted Vocation the Vocation of Man Pope John Paul II on Holiness All are Called to Sainthood Is Holiness Difficult to Attain? Spiritual Sacrifices Acceptable to God The Call to Holiness Strive for Sainthood First Among Saints Lay Witnesses Divine Charity the Common Priesthood Special Task of the Laity Offered as Salvation A Plan of Action At the Beginning of the New Millennium Program for Training in Holiness Human Solidarity The People of God Light of the Nations Revisiting Lumen Gentium
Questions?
Closing Prayer
God our Father, source of all light, you sent your son to be a light to all nations and all peoples. Help us with your grace to reveal your light within us that we may share your love with all we meet in our everyday walk in this life. Lighten our path that we may walk in faith and trust in the way of holiness until we come to the Light that shines forever. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
References
Called to Be Holy , Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan, Bishop of Colorado Springs, CO, Lay Witness, November/December 2004
http://www.cuf.org/FileDownloads/LayWitness/ND04Sheridan.pdf