Ch 8 Living the Paschal Mystery A Call

Ch. 8: Living the Paschal Mystery: A Call to Holiness

• Who are some people you consider to be holy? • What does it mean to be “holy”?

The Light of Christ • Something is holy by virtue of being related to God. • Our call to holiness (i. e. to be saints) is a vocation given to us by Jesus himself. • A mark of holiness is to let Christ’s light shine through in our lives.

Living a Life of Virtue • For our part, we can accept the grace of Redemption God offers us by: – repenting of our sins – believing in the Gospel – living a life of holiness • We grow in holiness in two ways: 1. living a life of virtue 2. cooperating with God’s graces

Virtues • The habitual and firm disposition to do good— the meaning of living a life of virtue—empowers us to perform good acts and give the best of our lives. • The opposite of a virtue is a vice, a bad habit that is acquired by repeated sin in violation of proper norms of morality.

The Human Virtues • Human virtues (aka moral virtues) are virtues we can acquire by human effort. • The cardinal virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—are the source of the other virtues.

Prudence • Helps us decide responsibly • Equated with common sense and wisdom • Use of memory, foresight, imagination, and openness to learning to discover the right course of action in every situation

Justice • Giving due to God and neighbor • The four types: – commutative: regulates relationships of exchange between individuals and social groups – distributive: seeks fair distribution of the goods of creation – legal: governs what individuals owe society as a whole – social: applies the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the structures, systems, and laws of society

Fortitude • Courage to conquer fears—even the fear of death—for a worthy cause • The ultimate example of fortitude it martyrdom, dying for one’s faith

Temperance • Virtue of self-control • Three parts: – abstinence: tempers our desires for food and other pleasure-producing substances – sobriety: moderates our desires for alcoholic beverages – chastity: helps us control our sex drive in a way that fits our state in life

The Theological Virtues • Faith, hope, and charity (love) • They are infused into our souls directly by God • The Triune God is their origin, motive, and object

Faith • Makes it possible for us to commit totally to God • Must be lived and strengthened through practices like: – – – prayer reading Scripture celebrating the sacraments studying the faith drawing on the faith of friends put faith into action: • corporal works of mercy and • spiritual works of mercy

Hope • Allows us to desire the Kingdom of Heaven and happiness in eternal life • Christ’s own life is a model of hope

Charity • Allows us to love God for his own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God • The “mother of virtues” and the only virtue that lasts into eternity • Jesus by his words and deeds teaches that charity involves: – obedience – reverence – sacrifice

God Helps Us Grow in Holiness • Growth in holiness is a difficult but not impossible task as long as we rely on God’s help, which includes: – grace – the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

Grace • Grace is God’s favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to the call to holiness • The benefits of grace: – enables us to address God as Abba – adopts us into God’s family – enables us to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity – makes us heirs of Heaven – enables us to live as God’s sons and daughters as Jesus taught – unites us to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

• Sanctifying grace is the free and undeserved gift that God gives to us that blesses us in many ways and helps us to grow in holiness • Distinguished from: – actual graces: God’s intervention at the beginning of conversion or in the course of sanctification – sacramental graces: specific gifts that come from particular sacraments – graces of state: help God gives to particular ministries in the Church – charisms: special gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to individual Christians to build up the Body of Christ

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit • Help us to live Christ-like lives • Given to us at Baptism and Confirmation The Seven Gifs of the Holy Spirit: • wisdom: looking at reality from God’s point of view • understanding: ability to uncover the deeper meaning of faith and the mysteries of God’s magnificent creation • knowledge: grace to see how God is working in our lives, especially in moral decisions

• counsel (right judgment): ability to form our conscience in light of Church teaching • fortitude (courage): strength to follow our convictions in the face of adversity • piety (reverence): respect shown to the Lord through praise and worship • fear of the Lord (wonder and awe): concern about the reality of our sin and to avoid alienation from God

Essential Elements of Holiness • We are able to grow in holiness as members of Christ’s Body in three general ways: – practicing the virtue of charity – celebrating the sacraments – picking up the cross and following Jesus

• Created in his own image, God gave humans the capacities needed to be holy and to share in his own life: – Human reason: power to discern with our intellects the laws God put into creation – Free will: capacity to choose among alternatives and to use God-given talents to cooperate freely with God’s grace – Conscience: capacity to distinguish between good and evil in an act that one is going to perform, in the process of performing, or has already completed – Formation of conscience is a lifelong process

An upright conscience recognize three sources of morality: 1. the object chosen: the matter of our actions/ what we do 2. the end or intention: the purpose for doing something 3. the circumstances: secondary factors surrounding the action (e. g. time, place, method of performing the act)

• Every person is obliged to follow his or her own conscience. • However, sometimes conscience can be mistaken, so we must always aim to strengthen it. • Following a wellformed conscience and making a moral choice based on it is an opportunity for growth in holiness.