1. Ezekiel 18:24-26 “I was a good student. I did football, karate, basketball, all sorts of activities. I never skipped school. I first sold drugs when I was twelve or thirteen. It wasn’t a full time thing. Just whenever I needed money. My mom was raising four of us in a one-bedroom apartment, so we didn’t have money for clothes. I just needed enough to keep people from focusing on me. Just enough to keep moving. But as I got older, it cost more and more to stay up. Girls came into the picture. I wanted to impress them. I started dealing more and more, and all the other activities faded out of my life. I tried to study nursing after high school. I paid my tuition with drug money. But I lost focus after two years and fell back on drug dealing. I thought I could be double-minded. But it’s not possible. You can’t do good and bad at the same time. The bad always wins. There’s no such thing as Robin Hood. Nobody wants to hear that you’re dealing drugs to feed your family. Prosecutor doesn’t want to hear that. Society doesn’t want to hear that. The system doesn’t want to hear that. There’s a verse in the Book of Ezekiel, I forget which one, but it talks about this. It says something like: ‘If you do all good, and one bad, the good will not be mentioned.’”  (Federal Correctional Institution: Cumberland, Maryland) 1

2. The Universal Call to Holiness Chapter 14 2

3. Lesson One 3

4. What Does it Mean to Be Holy?  What is a Vocation?  From Latin: Vocare—to call.  More specifically, a calling from God.  Vocation in two senses:  General—Calling to Holiness.  Specific—Our individual calling from God, according to our gifts, talents, and circumstances.  “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (MT 5:48).”  The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.  But What is Holiness?  Being close to or belonging to God.  All Christians are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. 4

5. The Universal Call “In order to reach this perfection the faithful should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ’s gift so that … doing the will of the Father in everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus the holiness of the People of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the history of the Church through the lives of many saints.” -CCC 2013  Believers share the “blessed hope” of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the “holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  How do we attain holiness?  We must be in the state of Grace (follow the 10 Commandments/live a moral life).  We must live a sacramental life.  We must live in union with Christ on earth so we can be with Him in heaven. This means we must worship and pray (faith and hope).  We must love God and neighbor (charity). 5

6. Apostolic Work  Apostolate—preaching the Gospel by word and example.  What are some examples of Apostolates? That is, how can we preach the Gospel by both our words and through our actions?  Caring for the elderly  How can we take care of the elderly?  Serving the poor  How can we serve the poor?  Teaching the faith  How can we teach the faith?  Beyond the Universal Call:  Each person is born with a vocational calling. Primarily this is the call to holiness. Secondarily this is the vocation—or calling—that each person is born with.  Married life  Priesthood  Consecrated life (Nun, monk, brother)  Holy Single life 6

7. Obstacles to Holiness  We are born with the stain of original sin, however with Baptism, this stain is washed away.  Though we are freed from this stain at Baptism, the inclination to sin remains.  Concupiscence—suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character and an inclination to sin.  Concupiscence remains after Baptism and we are left in a life-long fight against it. More specifically, Vice vs. Virtue.  It is Concupiscence that inclines us to commit sin.  Lying  Cheating  Stealing  Murdering  Grace helps us to avoid sin. 7

8. Pride & Covetousness Lesson Two 8

9. Capital Sins  Capital is derived from the Latin word, “Capitis,” which means, “head.”  This means that these sins are the root sins from which all others flow.  Capital sins are linked to the development of vices. These capital sins then engender—give rise to—other sins.  Vices are classified by the virtue that they oppose.  Sin:  Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law." 9

10. Pride  Considered to be the first and gravest of the Capital sins, because it tends to lead to the other six.  An excessive, disordered love of oneself. It leads us to prefer our own desires to those of God and our neighbor.  This is the root sin of Adam and Eve.  “No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”  It is the desire to be one’s own ruler rather than be subject to another person—whether God or another person.  Pride is a sin when it is in excess because it prevents one from growing and evolving, and from accepting oneself and others fairly and realistically. 10

11. Covetousness (Avarice)  An uncontrolled desire for earthly possessions, such as money, clothes, and so on.  Sin of excess  Hoarding materials or objects, robbery, especially by means of violence or trickery.  Money  Power  Popularity  One allows material items to control his/her sense of contentment.  People under the influence of greed want more and more and are never satisfied.  Avarice can lead to other sins such as lying, cheating, stealing, or murder. 11

12. Lust & Anger Lesson Three 12

13. Bell Work 2/18/16 Write the QUESTION and ANSWER 1.Is it a sin to have Pride? 2.In what ways could Avarice lead us to commit other sin? 3. remains after Baptism and we are left in a life-long fight against it. 4.What is the general vocation of humanity? 5.At what point does Pride become excessive? 13

14. Lust  The disordered desire for, or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure.:  The misappropriation of the sexual aspect of the human person.  The inordinate desire or action, in a sexual manner for another person or thing.  The sexual attraction becomes disordered when it is focused on selfish pleasure instead of the selfless, true love of another person, and when it is separated from marriage and the purpose of marriage.  Lust treats the “other” as an object of pleasure, rather than another individual.  Jason Evert on Chastity:  Jason Evert Jason Evert 14

15. Anger  The uncontrolled expression of displeasure, often with the intent of revenge. Proper anger responds to an injustice. Sinful anger is connected with pride, hate, or revenge.  Uncontrolled feelings of hatred.  Desire to seek revenge outside of the workings of the justice system.  Vengeance: murder, assault, and genocide  Uncontrollable feelings of resentment, revenge or even denial, it is also known as Wrath.  One becomes angry at someone or something to the point that one loses control over actions and words.  Sinful anger is the desire to do to another person as they have done to you. “You hit me, I’ll hit you back.”  When Christ over turned the tables in the temple, his anger was in response to the injustice caused by the miss-use of the temple. 15

16. Gluttony, Envy, & Sloth. Lesson Four 16

17. Gluttony  Uncontrolled desire for and indulgence in food and drink.  Overeating at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.  Gluttony is the excessive use of a good. It is a desire which cannot be satisfied by food, drink, luxury, or anything else. It is consuming all that one can, far beyond what is necessary for life.  The chief error about Gluttony is to think it only pertains to food. Some people can't have enough toys, television, entertainment, pleasure, or company.  It is about an excess of anything. Over-indulgence and over- consumption of anything to the point of waste.  Depends on culture- where food is scarce and is a status symbol, taking pride in having a lot is a vice. Where food is plentiful- not having self-control is the vice.  Church Fathers:  Eating too soon  Too expensively  Too much  Too eagerly 17

18. Envy  Resent associated with the good fortune or success of others.  Jealousy is wanting what another person has. Envy is being upset when another person has some sort of good.  For example, being upset when another person gets an award, or when another person is recognized for a good deed. Or destroying some thing that belongs to another person, because you do not want them to have it.  Like GREED, envy has Insatiable desire, but greed is for material goods, and envy is more general.  They covet something someone else has, or something they think they lack.  St. Thomas Aquinas described envy as “ sorrow for another ’ s good. ” 18

19. Sloth  Excessive laziness or carelessness.  This is different from the other sins because it is not simply a desire that is uncontrolled.  It is a lack of desire to do one’s duties, particularly spiritual ones, because of the effort that is involved.  It is not the same as a reasonable desire for times of rest or leisure. It is negligence.  Has considerably changed since its beginning. Used to be sadness, or depression, joylessness- a refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world he created.  Spiritual apathy  Changed to discontent, “ uneasiness of the mind ”  Failure to love God with all your heart  Today it stands for laziness, unwillingness to act or care, rather than a failure to love God. 19

20. Unique  Sin is unique to the individual. Some struggle with one sin more than others. While one person might struggle heavily with lust, others might struggle with anger. It is unique to the person.  It is not until we recognize our own weakness that we can ask for God’s help in overcoming it.  For example, how can a sick man ask for a cure, if he does not know he is sick?  John 16:33 20