REJOICE AND BE GLAD” (Mt 5:12), Jesus tells those humiliated for his sake.The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence. The Lord has chosen each of us "to be holy and blameless in love." (Eph 1:4)
CHAPTER ONE: THE CALL TO HOLINESS
Saints who Encourage and Accompany us. The Bible invites
us to realize that “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) impels us to advance
constantly towards the goal. These witnesses may include our own mothers,
grandmothers or other loved ones.
The Saints “Next Door”. Let us be spurred
on by the signs of holiness the Lord shows us through the humblest of people: those parents who raise their children with immense love, men and women
who work hard to support their families.
On the last day of the world, we will find out about those souls to whom
we owe the decisive turning points in our personal lives.
The Lord Calls. Lord addresses to
each of us, the call that he also addresses, personally, to you: “Be
holy, for I am holy”.
The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path,
that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that
God has placed in their hearts…to give our all and
to embrace that unique plan that God willed for each of us from eternity.
For You Too. We are all called to
be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we
do, wherever we find ourselves.
Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife,
as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by laboring
with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a
parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to
follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the
common good and renouncing personal gain.
Let everything be open to God; turn to him in every situation.
When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness, raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say: “Lord, I am a poor sinner, but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better”.
When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness, raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say: “Lord, I am a poor sinner, but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better”.
In the Church, holy yet made up of sinners, you will find everything
you need to grow towards holiness. The Lord has bestowed on the Church the
gifts of scripture, the sacraments, holy places, living communities, the
witness of the saints.
This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small
gestures. Here is an example: a woman goes shopping, she meets a neighbor and
they begin to speak, and the gossip starts. But she says in her heart: “No, I
will not speak badly of anyone”. This is a step forward in holiness. Later, at
home, one of her children wants to talk to her about his hopes and dreams, and
even though she is tired, she sits down and listens with patience and love.
That is another sacrifice that brings holiness. Later she experiences some
anxiety, but recalling the love of the Virgin Mary, she takes her rosary and
prays with faith. Yet another path of holiness. Later still, she goes out onto
the street, encounters a poor person and stops to say a kind word to him.
The Lord calls us anew to a conversion…Choose
to live the present moment, filling it to the brim
with love.
Your Mission in Christ. At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the
mysteries of his life, uniting ourselves
to the Lord’s death and resurrection, reproducing in our own lives various
aspects of Jesus’ earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his
closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his
self-sacrificing love.
The contemplation of these mysteries, as St. Ignatius of Loyola
pointed out, leads us to incarnate them in our choices and attitudes. Holiness
is nothing other than charity lived to the full…we model our whole life on his.
Activity That Sanctifies. Your personal mission is inseparable from the building of that kingdom:
“Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness”. It involves a
commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace.
It is not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others…
We are called to be contemplatives even in the midst of action, and to grow
in holiness by responsibly and generously carrying out our proper mission.
Life does not have a mission, but is a mission. Realize the need to stop
this rat race…to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt
dialogue with God…Finding that space may prove painful but it is always
fruitful. We tend to absolutize our free time….every moment can be an
expression of self-sacrificing love in the Lord’s eyes.
More Alive, More Human. Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy,
vitality or joy. By holiness, you are faithful to your deepest self. We understand the profound truth
that God, and not man, is the true Master. To the extent that each Christian
grows in holiness, he or she will bear greater fruit for our world. Do not be
afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated
by God.
Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between
your weakness and the power of God’s grace: “the only great tragedy in life,
is not to become a saint”
CHAPTER TWO: TWO SUBTLE ENEMIES OF HOLINESS
In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others.
Contemporary Gnosticism. The
only interest is a certain experience or a set of
ideas and bits of information. With this, one is imprisoned in his or her own
thoughts and feelings.
But it is clear that a people’s perfection is measured by the depth of
their charity. But by Gnosticism we become incapable of touching Christ’s suffering flesh in others. Even
when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated
by vices or addictions, God is present there. We can and must try to find the
Lord in every human life.
It is wrong to think that because we know something, or are able to
explain it in certain terms, we are already saints. What we think we know
should always motivate us to respond more fully to God’s love.
St. Francis said: I am pleased that you teach sacred theology…provided that you do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion
during study.
True Christian wisdom can never be separated from mercy towards our
neighbor: The greatest possible wisdom is to share fruitfully what we have to
give…There are activities that, united to contemplation, do not prevent the
latter, but rather facilitate it, such as works of mercy.
Contemporary Pelagianism. The power that the gnostics attributed to the intellect, others now began to
attribute to the human will, to personal effort. The human will took the place
of mystery and grace. It forgets that everything “depends not on human will or
exertion, but on God who shows mercy” (Rom 9:16) and that “he first
loved us”.
A will lacking humility. Pelagians ultimately trust only in their own
powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain
intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style. Do what you can and to
ask for what you cannot. The lack of a heartfelt and prayerful acknowledgment
of our limitations prevents grace from working: acknowledge our concrete and
limited situation.
In order to be blameless, as God would have us, we need to live
humbly in his presence…walk in union with him, recognizing his constant love in
our lives. We need to lose our fear before that presence which can only be
for our good.
An often overlooked Church teaching.
We are justified not by our own works or efforts, but by the grace of the
Lord, who always takes the initiative. God pours into us the very source of all
his gifts. The faithful glory in God alone, for they realize that they lack
true justice and are justified only through faith in Christ.
All cooperation with grace is a prior gift of that same grace. The desire
to be cleansed comes about in us through the outpouring and working of the Holy
Spirit
Live in joyful gratitude for this completely unmerited gift…The saints avoided putting trust in their own works…this truth should
affect the way we live, for it flows from the heart of the Gospel and demands
that we not only accept it intellectually but also make it a source of contagious
joy
We realize that our earthly life and our natural abilities are his gift. We must first belong to God, offering
ourselves to him who was there first
Entrust to him our abilities, our efforts, our struggle against evil and
our creativity, so that his free gift may grow and develop within us:
Charity alone makes growth in the life of grace possible, for “if I do
not have love, I am nothing”
New pelagians. Don’t be excessively concerned about somethings. Let yourselves be led
by the Spirit in the way of love. Being passionate about communicating the
beauty and the joy of the Gospel and seeking out the lost among the immense
crowds that thirst for Christ.
The summation of the Law. Keep reminding
ourselves that there is a hierarchy of virtues that bids us seek what is
essential. The primacy belongs to the theological virtues, which have God as
their object and motive. At the centre is charity. The one who loves
another has fulfilled the law… for love is the fulfilment of the law. “For the whole law is summed up in a single
commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’”
Amid the thicket of precepts and prescriptions, Jesus clears a way to seeing
two faces: the Father and our brother. Better yet, one face alone: the face of
God reflected in so many other faces. For in every one of our brothers and
sisters, especially the least, the most vulnerable, the defenceless and those
in need, God’s very image is found.
CHAPTER THREE: IN THE LIGHT OF THE MASTER
The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card: a portrait of the
Master, which we are called to reflect in our daily lives.
Going Against the Flow. The Beatitudes run
counter to the way things are usually done in our world. We can only practise
them if the Holy Spirit fills us with his power and frees us from our weakness.
Let us allow his words to unsettle us, to challenge us and to demand a
real change in the way we live.
1. Poor in spirit. See where we find our security in life. Remember the parable of the rich
fool: so self-satisfied that we leave no room for God’s word. We miss out on
the greatest treasure of all. To those
who have a poor heart, there the Lord can enter with his perennial newness.
We have to be indifferent in our attitude to all created things. Live a
plain and austere life.
2. Meek. This world from the beginning has been a place of conflict: reign of
pride and vanity, where each person thinks he or she has the right to dominate
others.
Jesus is humble, and mounted on a donkey. Christ says: “Learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble of heart. Regard the faults and limitations of
others with tenderness and meekness, without an air of superiority.
Perfect charity consists in putting up with others’ mistakes, and not being scandalized by their faults.
Try to correct them, but “with a spirit of
meekness”, since “you too could be tempted”.
Trust in God alone.
3. Those who mourn. The worldly person
ignores problems of sickness or sorrow in the family or all around him; he
averts his gaze. He disregards painful situations, cover them up or hide them.
A person who sees things as they truly are and sympathizes with pain and
sorrow is capable of touching life’s depths and finding authentic happiness. We
should be consoled, not by the world but by Jesus,
unafraid to share in the suffering of others.
Meaning of life is in coming to the aid of those who suffer, understanding their anguish and bringing relief. Not afraid to draw
near, even to touch their wounds.
4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Hunger and thirst are intense
experiences, since they involve basic needs and our instinct for survival. Those who desire justice will be satisfied: Justice
will come. We can cooperate to make that possible.
Be just in decisions; it is expressed in pursuit of justice for the poor
and the weak. Also faithfulness to God’s will in every aspect of our life, shown
especially in justice towards those who are most vulnerable: “Seek justice,
correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
5. Merciful. Two aspects: giving,
helping and serving others and forgiveness and understanding. In everything, do to others as you would
have them do to you. When confronted by
situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult: Judge
not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. The
yardstick we use for understanding and forgiving others will measure the
forgiveness we receive.
6. Pure in heart. Hearts that are simple, pure and
undefiled, admits nothing that might harm, weaken or endanger love. Keep a
heart free of all that tarnishes love.
Our heart is in our real intentions, the things we truly seek and
desire, apart from all appearances. Flee from deceit, God sees in secret.
Commitment to our brothers and sisters that comes from the heart: if I
give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have no love,
I gain nothing. To the extent that truth and love prevail, we will then be able
to see “face to face”.
7. Peacemakers. We ourselves are often a cause of conflict or at least of
misunderstanding. The world of gossip, inhabited by negative and destructive
people, does not bring peace. Such people are really the enemies of peace.
Build peace and friendship in society. Work for peace. Embrace even
those who are a bit odd, troublesome or difficult, demanding, different, beaten
down by life or simply uninterested.
We must face conflict head on, resolve it and make it a link in the
chain of a new process.
8. Persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The Christian path goes against the flow. We challenge society by the way we live: thirst
for power and worldly interests often stands in our way. Also forms of social
organization, production and consumption make it more difficult to offer this
gift of self. The cross remains the source of our growth and sanctification.
This does not refer to the kind of persecution we might bring upon
ourselves by our mistreatment of others. The saints are not odd and aloof,
unbearable: they enjoyed favor “with all the people.
Accept daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us
problems.
The Great Criterion. Jesus expands on the
Beatitude that calls the merciful blessed..
This is the clear criterion on which we will be
judged: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked
and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in
prison and you visited me”. St. John Paul II: “If we truly start out anew
from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially
in the faces of those with whom he himself wished to be identified”. Holiness
cannot be understood or lived apart from these demands, for mercy is “the beating heart of the Gospel.” This involves a constant and
healthy unease: the goal has to be the restoration of just social and economic
systems.
Ideologies striking at the heart of the Gospel. Two harmful errors:
1) Separate these Gospel demands from their personal relationship with
the Lord, from their interior union with him, from openness to his grace. Luminous
mysticism of the saints: mental prayer, the love of God and the reading of the
Gospel
2) Suspect the social engagement of others, ignore injustice in a world
Wrong to see migrants a secondary issue compared to the “grave”
bioethical questions: the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of
those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to
their children. All guests who knocked at the monastery
door be welcomed “like Christ.” The poor and pilgrims were to be met with
“the greatest care and solicitude
The worship most acceptable to God. The primacy belongs to
our relationship with God. Ultimate criterion on which our lives will be judged
is what we have done for others. Prayer is most precious, for it
nourishes a daily commitment to love. Best way to discern if our prayer is
authentic is to judge to what extent our life is being transformed in the light
of mercy.
Mercy: a criterion for ascertaining who his true children are. St. Thomas:
mercy, whereby we supply others’ defects, is a sacrifice more acceptable
to him, as conducing more directly to our neighbor’s well-being. We are called
to be single-minded and tenacious in their practice of the works of mercy. God depends
on us to love the world and to show how much he loves it.
Hedonism and consumerism can prove our downfall, for when we are
obsessed with our own pleasure. Cultivate a certain simplicity of life,
resisting the feverish demands of a consumer society. Christianity is meant
above all to be put into practice
I recommend rereading these great biblical texts frequently, referring
back to them, praying with them, trying to embody them
CHAPTER FOUR: SIGNS OF HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD
These are five great expressions of love for God and neighbor
Perseverance, Patience and Meekness. Find solid grounding in God who loves and sustains us: “If God is for us, who is against us? Overcome evil
with good: not to seek revenge; recognize and combat our aggressive and selfish
inclinations, and not let them take root.
Always cling to the anchor of prayer, which puts us back in God’s hands
and the source of our peace.
Do not ignore the eighth commandment, which forbids bearing false
witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others. Do not waste energy complaining
about the failings of others
Saints consider others better than themselves: Always prefer to be
taught by all, rather than to desire teaching even the least of all. Desire
that they be given precedence over you in all things. Prefer to praise the
others.
Humility can only take root in the heart through humiliations. Ask
for the grace of humility in prayer: “Lord, when humiliations come, help me
to know that I am following in your footsteps”.
Trust in God’s mercy: “Mankind will not have peace until it turns
with trust to my mercy”
Joy and a Sense of Humour. The saints are joyful
and full of good humour: the necessary result of the love of charity is joy;
since every lover rejoices at being united to the beloved.
Time of Jesus is a revelation of joy. “Shout and sing for joy!” Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he.”
When hard times come: we are infinitely loved.
“Remove vexation [annoyance and worry] from your mind.”
Consumerism only bloats the heart. It can offer occasional and passing
pleasures, but not joy.
There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.
Fraternal love makes us capable of rejoicing in the good of others:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice”
If we focus primarily on our own needs, we condemn ourselves to a
joyless existence
Boldness and Passion. Holiness is
also parrhesÃa: it is boldness, an impulse to evangelize and to
leave a mark in this world. Jesus: “Do not be afraid” “I am with you
always, to the end of the world” He bids us spend our lives in his service. Look
at Jesus. His deep compassion reached out to others. It did not make him hesitant,
timid or self-conscious.
We are constantly tempted to flee to a safe haven. It can have many
names: individualism, spiritualism, living in a little world, addiction,
intransigence, the rejection of new ideas and approaches, dogmatism, nostalgia,
pessimism, hiding behind rules and regulations.
Church needs passionate missionaries, enthusiastic about sharing true
life: let us ask for the apostolic courage to share the Gospel to others.
In Community. Growth in holiness is
a journey in community, side by side with others. You are living with others in
order to be fashioned and tried.
The common life, whether in the family, the parish, the religious
community or any other, is made up of small everyday things. Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to details, little details of love: missing sheep, offering two small coins, spare oil for lamps. St. Therese: Instead of the beautiful
strains of music I heard only [poor invalid's] occasional complaints: rays of truth which so
surpassed the dark brilliance of earthly feasts that I could not believe my
happiness.
Our path to holiness can only make us identify all the more with Jesus’
prayer “that all may be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you”.
In Constant Prayer. Holiness consists
in a habitual openness to the transcendent, expressed in prayer and adoration.
The saints are distinguished by a spirit of prayer and a need for communion
with God: they long for God, losing themselves in praise and contemplation of
the Lord.
Endeavour to remain always in the presence of God. Try to be continuous
in prayer do anything, always go to God and attach your heart to him. For this
to happen, some moments spent alone with God are also necessary. For all of us,
for “we all have need of this silence, filled with the
presence of him who is adored”.
In that silence, we can discern, in the light of the Spirit, the paths
of holiness to which the Lord is calling us. It is essential to spend time with
the Master, to listen to his words, and to learn from him always. Unless we
listen, all our words will be nothing but useless chatter.
Contemplation of the face of Jesus, died and risen, restores our humanity, even when it has been broken by
the troubles of this life or marred by sin. We must not domesticate [tame] the power of the face of Christ. Gazing on the face of
Christ, you feel unable to let yourself be healed and transformed, then enter
into the Lord’s heart, into his wounds, for that is the abode of divine mercy.
Prayer of intercession has particular value, for it is an act of trust in God and, at the same time, an expression
of love for our neighbor: our prayer will be all the more pleasing to God and
more effective for our growth in holiness if, through intercession, we attempt
to practise the twofold commandment that Jesus left us.
Worship him, at times in quiet wonder, and praise him in festive song: “As
soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could do nothing other than to live for him.
Love pauses, contemplates the mystery [God’s affection and closeness],
and enjoys it in silence
Prayerful reading of God’s word, goes to the very heart and identity of
Christian life.
In the Eucharist, the one true God receives the greatest worship the
world can give him, for it is Christ himself who is offered
CHAPTER FIVE: SPIRITUAL COMBAT, VIGILANCE AND DISCERNMENT
The Christian life is a constant battle. We need strength and courage to
withstand the temptations of the devil and to proclaim the Gospel. This battle
is sweet, for it allows us to rejoice each time the Lord triumphs in our lives.
Combat and Vigilance. We battle against the world and a worldly mentality, struggle against our
human weaknesses and proclivities (be they laziness, lust, envy, jealousy or
any others)
A constant struggle against the devil: He is present in the very first
pages of the Scriptures, which end with God’s victory over the devil. A more
exact translation of “evil” in the Our Father would be “the evil one”. He
poisons us with the venom of hatred, desolation, envy and vice. When we let
down our guard, he takes advantage of it to destroy our lives, our families and
our communities. “Like a roaring lion, he prowls around, looking for someone to
devour.
Alert and trustful. We can count on the powerful weapons
that the Lord has given us: faith-filled prayer, meditation on the word of
God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental Reconciliation,
works of charity, community life, missionary outreach.
Along this journey, the cultivation of all that is good, progress in
the spiritual life and growth in love are the best counterbalance to evil.
Those who choose to remain neutral, who are satisfied with little, who renounce
the ideal of giving themselves generously to the Lord, will never hold out.
Spiritual corruption. The path of holiness
demands that we keep “our lamps lit” (Lk 12:35) and be attentive.
“Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:22). “Keep awake” (Mt 24:42; Mk 13:35).
“Let us not fall asleep” (1 Thess 5:6). Those who think they commit
no grievous sins against God’s law can fall into a state of dull lethargy.
Since they see nothing serious to reproach themselves with, they fail to
realize that their spiritual life has gradually turned lukewarm. They end up
weakened and corrupted.
Spiritual corruption is worse than the fall of a sinner, for it is a
comfortable and self-satisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears
acceptable: deception, slander, egotism and other subtle forms of
self-centredness,
Discernment
An urgent need. Contemporary life offers immense possibilities for
action and distraction, and the world presents all of them as valid and good.
Always in the light of the Lord. Discernment is a means
of spiritual combat for helping us to follow the Lord more faithfully.
We need it at all times, to help us recognize God’s timetable, lest we fail to
heed the promptings of his grace and disregard his invitation to grow
Greatness of spirit is manifested in simple everyday realities. It
involves striving untrammelled [unrestricted] for all that is great, better
and more beautiful, while at the same time being concerned for the little
things, for each day’s responsibilities and commitments. For this reason, I ask
all Christians not to omit, in dialogue with the Lord, a sincere daily “examination
of conscience”.
A supernatural gift. We should always
remember that discernment is a grace: a glimpse of that unique and
mysterious plan that God has for each of us. It has to do with the meaning of
my life before the Father who knows and loves me, with the real purpose of
my life, which nobody knows better than he. The Father readily reveals himself
to the lowly (cf. Mt 11:25).
We cannot do without the silence of prolonged prayer, which enables us better to perceive God’s language, to interpret the
real meaning of the inspirations we believe we have received, to calm our
anxieties and to see the whole of our existence afresh in his own light.
Speak, Lord. Readiness to listen: to the Lord and to
others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways. Set aside our own partial or
insufficient ideas, our usual habits and ways of seeing things. Attitude of
listening entails obedience to the Gospel as the ultimate standard, but also
to the Magisterium that guards it. It is not a matter of applying rules or
repeating what was done in the past.
The logic of gift and of the cross. An essential condition for progress in discernment is a growing
understanding of God’s patience and his timetable, which are never our own.
Recognize how we can better accomplish the mission entrusted to us at our
baptism. This entails a readiness to make sacrifices, even to sacrificing
everything. For happiness is a paradox. “This is our logic”,
says Saint Bonaventure, pointing to the cross.
When, in God’s presence, we examine our life’s journey, no areas can be
off limits. In all aspects of life we can continue to grow and offer something
greater to God, even in those areas we find most difficult. We need, though, to
ask the Holy Spirit to liberate us and to expel the fear that makes us ban him
from certain parts of our lives. God asks everything of us, yet he also gives
everything to us.
Discernment is the process of leaving ourselves behind in order to
approach the mystery of God.
Our converse with Mary consoles, frees and sanctifies us. All we need do
is whisper, time and time again: “Hail Mary…”
May the Church devote herself anew to promoting the desire for holiness.
Francis
