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”? See next slide and pp.186-7.

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: living a life of virtue 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 While presenting the following slides, teachers might ask students to think of examples of each virtue.

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 Teachers should make it clear that chastity is not the same thing as “abstinence” from sex (refraining from sexual activity altogether. Teachers might discuss with students what constitutes chastity for different states of life (e.g. abstinence for priests and religious and appropriate sex for married couples). 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 Since the term “faith” is used very often and often inconsistently, teachers might find it beneficial to discuss with students how they hear it used and what they think it means.

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

Formation of conscience is a life-long process 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 life-long process Teachers might walk through the steps of a moral decision with the students, noting how each capacity comes into play.

An upright conscience recognize three sources of morality: the object chosen: the matter of our actions/ what we do the end or intention: the purpose for doing something 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 well-formed conscience and making a moral choice based on it is an opportunity for growth in holiness.