Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy PDF

THE CHURCH HOLY IS Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  OUT DEPTHS OF THE The rescue of thirty-three miners—trapped for nearly seventy days in a Chilean gold and copper mine...

THE CHURCH HOLY IS Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  OUT DEPTHS OF THE The rescue of thirty-three miners—trapped for nearly seventy days in a Chilean gold and copper mine—on October 13, 2010, was a result of the calculated, precise, and coordinated efforts of many. Credited for much of the positive outcome was an American company, Drillers Supply International, that brought all of its equipment to assist the rigs in going down 2,000 feet to the place where the miners were thought to be. The job was risky and, at first, thought to have little chance of success. Then, after seventeen days of drilling, Greg Hall, co-owner of the company and a Catholic who was in the final months of preparation for his February 2011 ordination as a deacon, received some news. “I was getting ready to go to Mass at 7 a.m. when one of my guys called me and said, ‘Greg, we think we hit a void, and we think we hear some banging on the drill pipe.’ We pulled the pipe up and in between the hammer and drill pipe was a note saying ‘All thirty-three of us are alive.’” There were other connections to faith with this remarkable story. Pope Benedict XVI sent each of the trapped miners a rosary that he had blessed himself. They were delivered to the miners personally by the cardinal of Santiago. The miners later told how they prayed the Rosary daily, even creating a little chapel in the corner of their cave. The families of the miners also prayed the Rosary while waiting for the miners to be rescued. Family members wore crosses and had religious altars dedicated to their loved ones. They also celebrated Mass together at the mine on Sundays. On the day of the rescue (interestingly, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima), Santiago Bishop Cristián Contreras Villarroel preached that the lives of the miners should be a sign that all people need Redemp- tion. “There is no saint without a past, nor sinner without a future,” the bishop said. Certainly, he added, the miners buried beneath the ground were a product, like all people, of both sinfulness and holiness. Their rescue was remindful of Jonah’s expulsion from the belly of the large fish, King David’s rescue from the enemies who surrounded him, and Jesus’ rising from the dead out of a sealed cave. Out of the depths I call to you, Lord; When Esteban Rojas reached the earth’s surface, he didn’t Lord, hear my cry! immediately run to the dignitaries present or even to his fam- May your ears be attentive ily. Instead, he knelt in prayer, this time in thankfulness, after to my cry for mercy. days of petition. In both the immediate minutes after the res- If you, Lord, mark our sins, cue and in the days that followed, the words of Psalm 130 Lord, who can stand? rang clear: But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered (Ps 130:1–4). 95 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  FOCUS QUESTION 1 How can a Church made up of sinners REMAIN HOLY? Chapter Overview Introduction Holiness Is from God Section 1 Tracing the Church’s Holiness Section 2 Ways the Church Is Holy Section 3 Canonized Saints: Models of Holiness Section 4 Mary, the Mother of God: Queen of All Saints Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  INTRODUCTION Europe and studied at Columbia University in New Holiness Is from God York and Cambridge in England. At school he had a reputation for partying and womanizing. After reading a book by a Catholic philosopher, Étienne Gilson, Merton grew more interested in MAIN IDEA Catholicism. His life decisions moved at a rapid pace Holiness is a gift from God, not something that can be earned. from that time on. In 1938 he was baptized a Catholic at Corpus Christi Church in New York City. Feeling called to the priesthood, Merton faced rejection from the Franciscan religious order, primarily for the ques- tionable choices of his earlier life. In 1941 he went on a retreat to the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist mon- astery near Bardstown, Kentucky. He immediately felt drawn to monastic life. The Trappists maintained strict silence, communicating with one another only through sign language. They gathered multiple times during the day to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. The rest of the day was spent in common labor or study. Merton joined the Trappists in December 1941. He began to keep journals of prayer and reflection. The abbot recognized his literary gifts and encouraged him Thomas Merton (1915–1968), whose image is shown Liturgy of the Hours The prayer of the Church; it is also above, became a Cistercian monk after years on a known as the Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours uti- lizes the Scriptures, particularly the Psalms, for praying at unique spiritual journey. Merton’s family was not reli- specific times of the day from early morning to late evening. gious. Merton was raised in both the United States and NOTE Analyze Information. Three ways to live a life of holiness are listed in this chart. Recreate it for yourself, then write an example of how Thomas Merton TAKING lived each one of these ways. Also list examples of how you are or will live out each way of holiness in your own life. Ways to Be Holy Thomas Merton You Prayer Good works Living a Christian vocation Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 97 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  not only an illusion but a dangerous illusion as well. While he recognized that certainly there was some- thing distinctive about being a monk (“for we all belong to God. Yet so does everybody else belong to God. We just happen to be conscious of it, and try to make a profession out of this consciousness”), he began to reflect more on his Louisville experience and the miraculous dignity of every human being. “If only everybody could realize this!” he wrote. “But it cannot Key events in the life be explained. There is no way of telling people that they of Thomas Merton: are all walking around shining like the sun.” Holiness is a second mark of the Church. This 1915: Born in Prades, France chapter traces the roots of holiness to God himself and 1938: Graduated from Columbia University, the ways the Church, like God, is holy because of her received into the Catholic Church intimate connection with him. Merton’s insight cap- 1941: Entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethse- tured an important aspect of holiness—namely, that it mani in Kentucky is not something that can be earned; rather, holiness 1948: The Seven Storey Mountain is published is a gift of God. 1955-1965: Master of Novices at Gethsemani The gift of holiness translates to the opportunity to be holy in your own particular way. Being holy primar- 1965-1968: Lived as a hermit on the grounds of Gethsemani ily means living in loving communion with God and one another. As you know, those tasks are not always 1968: Electrocuted in a bathroom accident at Bangkok, Thailand, where he was speaking at a so easy. Undermining your relationships with God and conference others is ever-present sinfulness that affects each per- son in the Church. Through prayer, good works, living to pursue his writing further. In 1948 his spiritual auto- a Christian vocation, and God’s gift of Redemption, biography, The Seven Storey Mountain, was published. you are still able to live a holy life. Think of the Chilean To the surprise of many, it became a bestseller. In the miner story as a parable for what you have to do to be book, Merton explained that his life apart from oth- holy. You can rise from sin to a life of holiness. This ers was the opportunity to reach greater holiness than chapter reminds us that Christ himself called sinners could be achieved by those who “lived in the world.” and the Church continues to invite and welcome sin- But years later Merton came to question his under- ners to membership. standing of monasticism and its relationship to holi- It is important for you to know that holiness is ness. Did a person really have to be a monk to be holy? not about becoming superhuman. Holiness is about During one of his trips to the doctor in Louisville, he becoming fully human. Holiness flows from the Chris- had a dramatic change of heart. Gazing at all of the tian understanding of the Incarnation. Jesus was fully strangers walking on the city streets, Merton instantly human and fully divine. He did not come to reject felt a mystical union with them. He realized that his humanity, but rather to live his human life in the full- view of the monk as a separate, spiritual person was est and most authentic way: “I came so that they might 98 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). To perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God live authentically human lives means to remain in a leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be life-giving relationship with God. Thomas Merton ourselves or not, as we please.... Our vocation adds this further insight: is not simply to be, but to work together with A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For God in the creation of our own life, our own in being what God means it to be it is obey- identity, our own destiny. ing him.... But what about you? What about The mark of holiness calls you to saintliness. Don’t me? Unlike the animals and the trees, it is not let this word scare you. This goal of being a saint is enough for us to be what our nature intends.... really your destiny. It is achievable not only by turning Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation to an austere life of prayer, as in a monastery, but in is in fact the problem of finding out who I am whatever your Christian vocation. To be a saint, to and of discovering my true self. Trees and ani- achieve holiness, is to live your ordinary life such that mals have no problem. God makes them what your relationship with God shines through. they are without consulting them, and they are Times of Prayer The Church’s prayer is centered in Jesus Christ. It is the Lord who teaches, guides, consoles, and blesses the Church through prayer. The Church’s prayer life is organized around a liturgical calendar that takes in the entire year. In the Church Year or Litur- gical Year, the entire mystery of Christ from the Incarnation and Nativity and through the events of the Paschal Mystery unfolds around six main parts or seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Tri- duum, Easter, and Ordinary Time. The liturgical calendar also is arranged for daily prayer. Like Thomas Merton, the monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani today (and many other priests, religious and laypeople worldwide) pray throughout on a schedule based on the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours. Examine the names of the hours of prayer italicized in the weekday schedule below. Do the following: (1) write a definition for each name (2) explain the significance of that hour of prayer (3) briefly provide an overview of the background and organization of the entire Liturgy of the Hours. Weekday Schedule 3:15 a.m. Vigils 7:30 a.m. Terce 5:30 p.m. Vespers 5:45 a.m. Lauds 12:15 p.m. Sext 7:00 p.m. Rosary 6:15 a.m. Eucharist 2:15 p.m. None 7:30 p.m. Compline Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 99 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SECTION ASSESSMENT NOTE TAKING Review your responses from your completed chart. Then answer the following question: 1. Besides the ways for holiness listed on the chart, what gift does God provide to help you to live a holy life? VOCABULARY ? 2. In the Liturgy of the Hours, what is the name for evening prayer? COMPREHENSION 3. What was the realization Thomas Merton had about holiness as he gazed at strangers on the streets of Louisville? 4. What are the roots of holiness? 5. What is the primary meaning of holiness? APPLICATION 6. What do you find appealing about a life of solitude, as Merton lived at the monastery? 7. If you could, how would you communicate to people that “they are all walking around shining like the sun”? 8. In your opinion, what is the difference between being superhuman and being fully human? 100 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SECTION 1 holy. In his transcendence and rule over the world, Tracing the Church’s God is not dependent on the world. Though all beauty, goodness, and love itself have their origins in God, Holiness his holiness lies in the fact that he did not in any way depend on the world to create these things, but rather brought them into existence by his own power out of nothing. MAIN IDEA Holiness is a gift of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit God’s holiness is part of his very identity. He has that the Church offers to both saints and sinners. revealed to the world that he is holy. In fact, only God is all-holy. This is supported in the Old Testament in several places: Since I, the Lord, brought you up from the land of Egypt that I might be your God, you shall be holy, because I am holy. (Lev 11:45) There is no Holy One like the Lord, there is no Rock like our God. (1 Sm 2:2) “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” they cried to one to the other. “All the earth is filled with his glory!” (Is 6:3) The Church has been called holy from the earliest cen- I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. (Is 43:15) turies of her existence. Some of the primary creeds refer to the sancta ecclesia, the “holy Church.” It was For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you. (Hos 11:9) only natural to refer to the Church as holy because “Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his transcendence A trait of God that refers to his total oth- erness and being infinitely beyond and independent of Bride” (Lumen Gentium, 39). creation. While God is immanent to humanity with a deep The definition of God—Three Divine Persons in and loving relationship with man and woman that resem- bles that of a parent to a child, God is neither male nor One—as holy is important to understand and trace female. He is pure spirit. He is God. in order to know why the Church can also be called NOTE TAKING How is God holy? Summarize Information. As you read the section, How was holiness understood in the write one-sentence summaries that trace the Old Testament? Church’s understanding of holiness and answer What does the Son of God incarnate the following questions. teach about holiness? Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 101 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  We can speak of people and the Church herself the very fact that God became incarnate in Jesus Christ as holy, but only insofar as they are related to God. In makes it clear that humans are also called to holiness. the Old Testament, places like the Temple and things How so? Jesus is the “Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24), like the altar for sacrifice were holy only because they but also fully human besides divine, a man “who has were set apart and consecrated for God and dedicated similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin” (Heb as places where people could encounter God. Likewise, 4:15). Moreover, he was not the incarnate Son of God people were holy only as they were related to God: as royalty, but as a poor Galilean Jew who lived most of his life as a humble craftsman (see image on page 101). Jesus’ holiness was certainly evident in his ministry; he A priest was holy because of the sacrifices blessed children, welcomed sinners, and healed the sick. he offered to God. But his holiness must also be recognized in his hidden years at home where he lived with his family, respected his parents, and practiced a trade. If you want to know what it takes to be holy, just look at his example and A prophet was holy because he spoke consider how it applies to your own current life. God’s Word. A final lesson of Jesus’ incarnate holiness takes place at the time of this Death. Recall that in the ancient Jewish Temple, the most sacred area was the Holy of Holies, reserved originally for the Ark of the A king was only holy when he obeyed the Covenant. It was an inner place that only the high Lord’s commands. priest could enter, and then only on the Day of Atone- ment. When Jesus “gave up his spirit” at the moment of his Death, “behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mt 27:51). The tearing of the veil of the Holy of Holies suggests that from that time on, it would not be only a select person, the high priest, or even a few who could encounter the Holy One. Now, through Christ the Redeemer, all people The Chosen People themselves were only holy when can come near to God’s presence. All people are called in relationship with God. to holiness. God’s relationship with the Chosen People was As Thomas Merton discovered in his own expe- defined as a covenant. The covenant God established rience on the streets of Louisville, there is deep value was an irrevocable bond. God promised his love and in humanity and the lives of individual people. God’s care and in return expected lives of gratitude in which holiness truly shines through all of his creation: “Thus the people would live out the truth of the covenant by it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ, way of ethical living, epitomized by the Great Com- Day of Atonement Known as Yom Kippur, this is the holiest mandment of loving God and neighbor. day of the year for the Jewish people. It is a day when Jews The New Testament largely embraces the same ask forgiveness for both communal and personal sins. understanding that holiness comes from God alone. Yet 102 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  In 2002, a severe crisis in the Church came to light with the discovery of a sexual scandal involving a small frac- tion of the clergy worldwide. Corpus Permixtum In July 2014, Pope Francis held the first of several private meetings with victims of clergy sexual abuse. Each meeting lasted about thirty minutes. During the same year, Pope Francis directed bishops around the world to reach out in compassion to sexual abuse victims and to report any future crimes of sexual abuse to civil authorities. whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of Just as Danielle had researched her question well, Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (Lumen Mrs. Tapia was able to respond in a thoughtful way. Gentium, 40). Here is what she said: Danielle, you raise an important question, one Saints and Sinners that does have an answer. It is true that over the Intertwined course of nearly two thousand years, people in Danielle, a tenth-grader preparing for the Sacrament of the Church, including leaders, have not always Confirmation at her parent’s request, had some serious lived up to the Gospel. The reality is that all of doubts about whether or not she would receive the us are sinners, including popes and bishops. Sacrament. She questioned the parish catechist, Mrs. With sinners, comes sin. Some of the examples Anne Tapia: “How can anybody who knows anything Crusades The nine armed expeditions by Christians begin- about the history of the Catholic Church possibly call it ning in 1095 and ending in 1291 that were intended to drive holy? There have been Crusades championed by popes the Muslims out of the Holy Land and in the process reunite who gave indulgences to soldiers for killing so-called Christians of the East and West. infidels. There was the Inquisition that led to heretics Inquisition A Church tribunal established in the thirteenth being tortured. I could go on and on, and I don’t have century that was designed to curb heretical teachings and beliefs. In collaboration with secular authorities, papal rep- to remind you of the sexual abuse scandal that has resentatives employed the Inquisition to judge the guilt of been a plague in the Church in these recent decades.” suspected heretics with the aim of getting them to repent. Unfortunately, before long, many abuses crept into the process. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 103 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  that you brought up were very important to St. John Paul II as well. Did you know that over his long reign as pope he gave public speeches asking for forgiveness for sins committed by Catholics, past and present, over ninety times? St. John Paul II apologized for the sin of anti-Semitism, for not acknowledging the dignity of women, and for crimes committed by Christians against non-Christians. In some ways, the Church’s history and relationship with God is like that of ancient Israel in the Old Testament. The Israelites sometimes let God down too, whether it was worshipping the fatted calf, grumbling to Moses in the desert, or abusing the poor as the prophet Amos pointed out. Yet each time they departed from God’s way, God would draw them back to him. Remember, too, that Jesus was often dis- appointed by his chosen disciples, including In March 2000, St. John Paul II visited the Western (Wailing) Wall in the Apostles. Think back to the Last Supper. Jerusalem. He left a letter of apology in one of the cracks of the Wall that There is Jesus sharing his final meal before he asked the Jewish people to forgive Christians for behaviors that caused them hurt over the centuries. is to undergo his terrible ordeal. What does he see around the table but one Apostle who It is the Holy Spirit who makes us the Body will betray him and another who will deny of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that makes us a him. And, if that wasn’t enough, Luke’s Gospel holy Church, not our own efforts. It is the Holy reports that right after that an argument broke Spirit that allows the Church to remain sinless out among the disciples about which of them even if her members sin. was the “greatest.” Can you imagine how Jesus Mrs. Tapia made an important point: it is incorrect must have felt at that moment? to think that the holiness of the Church depends on Actually, Jesus must have been tempted to the holiness of her members. Throughout the history give up on them right then and there. But he of the Church there have been several times when didn’t. He stayed at the table, not because of that school of thought has been held; that is, that only who they were, but because of who, by God’s “holy” people are worthy of Church membership. If grace, they might be someday. that approach were implemented there would be a This is who we are as a Church, Danielle. Church without any people in it! The Church is not like We are a broken and sinful people. The Church the United States Marine Corps (“the few, the proud, is holy, but not because of our individual mer- the Marines”). The Church is not an elite and select its, but because of the forgiveness of Christ. 104 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  organization. What Mrs. Tapia rightly expressed is that master in the story, wondering if the weeds should be the Church is a Church of sinners, from the pope in pulled up before the harvest. The master’s answer was Rome to the baby baptized last Sunday at your parish. no. He explained: In fact, Catholics have always held the Church [if] you pull up the weeds you might uproot to be, as St. Augustine put it, a corpus permixtum—a the wheat along with them. Let them grow “mixed body” of saints and sinners. This understand- together until harvest; then at harvest time ing comes from the teachings of Jesus, who told a I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the parable about the Kingdom of Heaven where sinners weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but (weeds) intermingled among the righteous (wheat). gather the wheat into my bar.” (Mt 13:29–30) One of the slaves of the household addressed the MISGUIDED VIEWS ON HOLINESS Throughout the Church’s history, Catholic men and women have lived lives that exemplify the true vocation of holiness. Unfortunately, some attempts to call the Church back to true holiness were in error. For example, in the seventeenth century, Jansenism, inspired by Cor- nelius Jansen, a bishop of Yrpes, France, taught that human nature was utterly depraved and that God’s grace extends to only a few. Jansenists held that God predetermined some people to Heaven and most others to Hell. They believed that most Catholics were not worthy to receive Holy Communion. They held a negative view of the human body and sexuality. Quietism, inspired by a Spanish priest, Michael Molinos (1628– 1696), held that human nature was so powerless a person could do nothing to grow in holiness. Under this view, you should not try to resist temptations since they are God’s will. You should not try to live virtues or concern yourself with Heaven and Hell. You should actually do nothing except remain quiet in abandonment. The Church condemned both of these heretical views. Holiness is not just for a few chosen ones. Spiritual effort is worthwhile. God gives grace to every Catholic. Prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist, and works of self-denial and charity toward others are ways in which all Catholics can grow close to God. Your growth in holiness takes effort, but God helps you through his grace. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 105 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  One of the most distinctive characteristics of the I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mk Church is that she doesn’t just tolerate the presence of 2:17). sinners in her midst, she eagerly reaches out to wel- The Church’s holiness is more than just the sum— come sinners into the field of God’s Salvation. This adding up the plusses and minuses—of her individual does not mean that the Church celebrates sin. Catho- members. This is important to remember because the lics are called to respond to God’s grace and his invita- Church will always have sinful members who will act tion to live holy lives. But it does mean that the Church in ways that are contrary to the Gospel. What is more continues to recognize the words of Jesus, preached crucial in understanding the mark of holiness for the from the very beginning of his public ministry: “Those Church is to understand how the Church can remain who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. holy even with sinners in her midst. SECTION ASSESSMENT NOTE TAKING Use the chart and summary statements you created to help you write the following definition. 1. Write a one-sentence definition of holiness that combines the understandings of the term from both the Old Testament and New Testament. VOCABULARY ? 2. Write the phonetic spelling of the two Latin terms: sancta ecclesia and corpus permixtum. Practice their pronunciation with a partner. Also, write a meaning of the terms in your own words. COMPREHENSION 3. What is the lesson of holiness that takes place at the time of Jesus’ Death? 4. What is the meaning of St. Augustine’s description of the Church as corpus permixtum, a “mixed body”? ANALYSIS 5. Differentiate between Jansenism and Quietism. CRITICAL THINKING 6. How does your understanding of the Church’s holiness differ from Danielle’s? In your opinion, how effective was Mrs. Tapia’s response to Danielle? 106 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SECTION 2 Instead, Catholics travel on the road to perfection and Ways the reach for holiness with the help of the many graces present in the Church. Church Is Holy There are many lifestyle choices that can help you to be holy. Remember to throw away the thoughts of Jansenism (page 105) that falsely taught that holiness is reserved for only a few. You are not only called to MAIN IDEA Sacramental graces, the practice of a Christian holiness, but you are called to perfection, too. Later in vocation, and moral behavior based on the Ten this section some specific vocation choices to live a holy Commandments and Beatitudes are ways the life will be discussed. But for now consider some sac- Church reaches for holiness. ramental graces God offers you right now to be holy. NOTE TAKING Recognize Connections. As you read through the section, match the term in the right column with the vocation most associated with it from the left column. In your notebook, write one sentence for each vocation that includes the name of the vocation and the corresponding term. Bishop evangelical counsels dedicated career Priest focus Deacon governance Sister or Brother service The image above is not accurate. The sinfulness of some Catholics never reduces the Church’s holiness. Husband or Wife preaching The Church will always be complete and filled with holiness. The Church is always holy because of Christ’s Single Person domestic church presence. It is the very essence of the Church to be holy, to be set apart as a community united with him. Because Catholics are united with Christ and made sacramental graces The grace of the Holy Spirit, given by holy by him, they strive to avoid tapping into sin. Christ, that is proper to each sacrament. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 107 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  The sacraments all point to a life of holiness. Sacramental graces are foremost among the graces. Here are some associated with each sacrament. BAPTISM Forgives sins (both Original Sin and personal sins) Makes you a “new creature” who can share in the divine life Makes you a member of the Church, the Body of Christ Strengthens the opportunity for unity among all Christians Seals you with a spiritual mark that can never be repealed CONFIRMATION Roots you more deeply as a child of God Unites you more firmly to Christ Increases the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in you Renders your bond with the Church more perfect Gives you a special strength of the Holy Spirit to defend and spread the Faith by word and action EUCHARIST Brings you to greater, more intimate union with Christ Separates you from sin (forgives venial sins) Builds the Church through your relationships with others PENANCE Reconciles you with God through the forgiveness of your sins Reconciles you with the Church Brings about peace and serenity of conscience 108 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  ANOINTING OF THE SICK Offers a particular gift of the Holy Spirit to assist those who are sick in accepting the trials they face Provides a grace to unite the suffering of those who receive it with the Passion of Christ Delivers to you and the Church a grace to be able to serve the sick Helps you accept and conform to your impending death (when it is time) as a preparation for the final journey HOLY ORDERS Configures the man to Christ as priest, teacher, and pastor dependent on the three degrees of the sacrament so that he can serve as Christ’s instrument for the Church Confers an indelible spiritual character, and therefore cannot be repeated Gives the bishop the power to govern Empowers the priest to offer the Sacrifice of the Eucharist Gives the deacon the grace to serve the people MARRIAGE Shares a bond established by God himself and indissoluble by human authority Assures the couple of a lifetime of God’s grace by which their love is perfected and their unity strengthened Consecrates concrete, real ways to live lives of love Surrounded by the sacramental graces and many seems that reaching for perfection is discouraged. You other graces of the Holy Spirit shared through the might imagine parents of a young student not wish- Church, Catholics set out along a road to perfection, ing to put too much pressure on their child to achieve which is the result of holiness. In today’s world, it all A’s in school or to practice a piano piece until it Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 109 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year. can be played with absolutely no flaws. Reaching for the Sacrament of Baptism calls all Catholics to lead perfection in living a life of holiness, however, is not holy lives and, further, how the vocations of ordained discouraged; it is required. Jesus said: “So be perfect, ministry, consecrated life, marriage, or a single life just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). dedicated to a life of chastity and service to others are In your quest to live a good and holy life, Catholic connected with holiness. moral teaching—including the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes—are your essential guide. They Living the Graces of challenge you to do what is right and help you to avoid Baptism sin. Jesus asks you to do even more. Jesus expanded on Identifying with and sharing in the Cross of Christ the Great Commandment by redefining the require- and the entirety of the Paschal Mystery is not like ment of love to include love for your enemies and going to a concert and then living vicariously through those who persecute you. This is difficult to do. Christ’s the musician on stage. In Baptism, you take on an willingness to suffer and die for friends and enemies actual share in the Paschal Mystery and member- alike is the greatest example and inspiration for you to ship in the common priesthood of the faithful. In strive for perfection. Baptism, you receive God’s grace. The priestly work Remember, seeking this form of perfection is left for you to do is to live in Christ. The New Testa- different than the allure of working out to achieve a ment Letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus as a “high flat stomach and toned abs. This type of perfection priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” involves uniting yourself to the Cross of Christ by (Heb 6:20). By his sacrifice on a Cross, a single offer- suffering some yourself. It involves praying for others ing, Jesus merited all the grace for the Salvation of and reaching out in love to all people, both friend and humankind. He established a new understanding for enemy. Thomas Merton chose the austere life of the priestly living. monastery as a way to seek his own perfection. He In the Old Testament, priestly living had different realized later that the life of a monk was not the only connotations than it does for Catholics today. Jew- way to do this. ish priests performed a number of roles but over time All people, you included, are called to both the their primary ministry was restricted to service in the challenges of striving for perfection of holiness and Temple. They offered animal sacrifices on behalf of all the rewards. This is a vocation given to Catholics in of God’s People. They were considered holy because Baptism as part of the common priesthood of the of this special role. In other words, they were holy faithful. Living this gift is “exercised by the unfold- because they were consecrated or set apart for the sake ing of baptismal grace—a life of faith, hope, and char- of serving God and the community. Their holiness was ity, a life according to the Spirit” (CCC, 1547). This not related to their moral lives. is the way to holiness. The next sections explore how The practice of sacrifice also affected how the rest vocation The calling or destiny we have in this life and in of the Jewish community understood holiness. Many the hereafter. Jews came to accept a belief that the sacrifices were common priesthood of the faithful The priesthood of all in themselves almost magical ways of gaining God’s the baptized in which we share in Christ’s work of Salvation. favor and, hence, their own holiness. They forgot that beyond worship, another aspect of the covenant 110 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  relationship was to live as God would have them live— as good, moral, and holy people. Some of the Old Testament prophets voiced this concern. They worried that Israel had put so much emphasis on sacrifices through the priest that they had neglected their own personal obligations to live lives of holiness. The prophet Hosea spoke for the Lord: “For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts” (Hos 6:6). When Christ took on the role of the High Priest who offers not another victim but himself as the one sacrifice, he ended the need for humans to ever have to offer sacrifices to God again (see Heb 9:11–14). Christ was not offered as a victim by another person in order to appease God; Jesus freely offered himself as both priest and victim. His offering, punctuated by his Resurrection, demonstrated that his self-giving love One type of Hebrew sacrifice was a whole offering. An entire animal except triumphs over sin and death. its hide was consumed in fire on the altar. You can draw on the life of Christ so that you, too, can live his self-giving love. The First Letter of Peter names your title and your task: But you are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Pet 2:9) So how are you to live out the common priesthood of the faithful? Put simply, you are to participate in the one sacrifice of Christ. Living the graces of the Paschal Mystery is the true path to holiness. Cath- olics have specific vocations or God-given callings to live the Paschal Mystery in a way unique to their lives. These vocations for living out holiness are most clearly defined around the ordained priesthood, con- secrated or religious life, marriage, and the dedicated single life. Jesus Christ “entered once and for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemp- tion” (Heb 9:12). Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 111 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SCelebratinG acrifIcIng and GOD’S KIngdoM foR CCeelleebCb retbaIrntaGItnInGG erla Through Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, our life on earth is permanently linked to the Kingdom of God, though no one on earth will experience the fullness of the Kingdom until Jesus’ Second Coming. In the meantime, the Church foreshadows the Kingdom’s presence on earth. The Church is the place where we are called to live a life of holiness. What does that entail? It means both living out the sacrifice of Christ and beginning our celebration of the Kingdom. Compare a story told by twentieth-century author James Alison that tells about what it is like to both sacrifice and celebrate in connection with the fall of the Soviet Union with Christians living as a priestly people. To understand Alison’s image, you first have to recall that for much of the twentieth century, the world was haunted by the oppressive reign of the Soviet Union that was held together by military might and fear of repres- sion from a brutal communist government. Within the same sphere were puppet communist governments in countries like Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Albania that were dependent on the Soviet Union and followed its lead in all matters. From 1989 to 1990, there was a dramatic shake-up of this world as the communist empires of the Soviet empire began to crumble. This era was symbolized by the tearing down of the Berlin Wall that had separated the communist and democratic sides of the German city of Berlin. The fall of the Berlin Wall became a powerful sym- bol of the liberation of whole nations from the terror of communism. In spite of this great liberating event, some Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  countries remained under communist rule even as the central Soviet regime Holiness of the Ordained collapsed. One of these countries was Ministry Albania. For men called to the ministerial priesthood, the voca- With that background, imagine along tion offers several graces both for personally living a with Alison that you are living in Alba- nia in 1989 and have just heard over holy life and for helping others to a life of holiness as the airwaves that the Berlin Wall has well. Realize that the ministerial priesthood is different fallen. The evil communist regime has from the common priesthood. The ministerial priest- been defeated. The Albanian communist hood is directed at serving the common priesthood by government may still technically be in “unfolding the baptismal grace of all Christians” (CCC, power in your country, but it doesn’t 1547). In the life of the Catholic priest, Christ builds up matter because you know, and they know you know, that it is all over. You, and leads the Church. For that reason, the ministerial your family, your neighbors, and your priesthood has its own sacrament, the Sacrament of friends begin to celebrate because you Holy Orders. all know that the days of oppression are Men who are ordained to the priesthood in the numbered. For now, the government Sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated to serve the may still be acting in the same brutal Church in three basic ways: ways as before, but everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before preaching the Gospel; celebrating divine worship; and GG the effects of the torn-down Berlin Wall reach the streets of Albania. And so you providing pastoral governance, typically as the begin to celebrate now because maybe pastor of a parish. by your celebration you will even has- ten the spread of this decisive victory In fulfilling these roles in the Spirit of Christ, to your own land. priests grow in their own holiness and build up the This is something of what it is like laity so they can live lives of faith, hope, and love, and for Catholics to live as a priestly peo- reach for perfection. ple. A very big event has happened in Jesus that has changed the course of In receiving the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy all human history, even if there are peo- Orders, bishops share in a similar role of consecrated ple who are not yet aware of it. God sent service to the Church. Priests function in their min- his only Son, the Second Person of the istry only because of their relationship to their local Blessed Trinity, to live in the world. As bishop. Each may administer the sacraments, though true God and true man, Jesus had both only a bishop can administer the Sacrament of Holy a divine and human nature that made him uniquely chosen to share the Good Orders, and he is also the ordinary minister of the News of God’s Kingdom with all. To live Sacrament of Confirmation. Whereas the priest is the common priesthood of Baptism is responsible for sharing in the governance of a parish, to participate “in the beginning of the the bishop is the ordinary pastor of the dioceses and celebration of a new regime even while therefore he has responsibility for all of the ministries the old regime hasn’t yet grasped the in the dioceses that are oriented toward building up news of its own fall.” the Church in holiness. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 113 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  Deacons, too, receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders, but unlike the bishop and priest, deacons are not ordained for priesthood, but for service. In the Rite of Ordination, the deacon promises obedience to the bishop. He serves at liturgy and is also in service to the needs of the entire Church and world. While until recently the diaconate was almost exclusively a transi- tion to priestly ordination, many deacons today remain permanently in the diaconate. They may be mature single or married men. A single man ordained in the permanent diaconate may not marry. A married man ordained to the permanent diaconate may not remarry if he should become a widower. St. John Paul II praised the ministry of the deacon, saying that “such a minis- try, whether in the form of the simplest acts of charity or the most heroic witness to the radical demands of the Gospel” is much needed in today’s world. Living the evangelical counsels applies to all Cath- olics. For consecrated religious, this takes the form of a vow. Bishops, priests, and deacons may take one or more of these vows. Each of the counsels stands in opposition to something that can draw a person away from God. A commitment to poverty frees a person St. Jerome (342–420) was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate the from the temptation to sin for the sake of material Bible from Hebrew and Greek to Latin. He did most of this tedious work liv- ing as a hermit in a cave near Bethlehem. The task took twenty-three years. wealth. A commitment to chastity frees one from the temptation to sin for the sake of physical pleasure. In the Latin Church, celibacy—the state of being unmar- Holiness of Consecrated Life ried for the sake of the Kingdom of God—is required There have always been Christians who have renounced for bishops and priests. A commitment to obedience worldly goals and pleasures for the sake of God’s King- frees one from the temptation to sin for the sake of dom. Some of them have made vows or promises com- power. These evangelical counsels also make up the mitting themselves to the evangelical counsels. Today, heart of consecrated or religious life, described below. there are still both men and women who live a conse- crated life to God, typically in religious communities. evangelical counsels Vows of personal poverty, chastity You may react to this as an extreme way to live a life understood as lifelong celibacy, and obedience to a bishop of holiness. In many ways it truly is. This radical form or to the superior of a religious community. of discipleship has roots in the words of Jesus who, in explaining the lifetime commitment of marriage, said Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so 114 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  by others; some, because they renounced mar- evangelization and promoting the Gospel through sec- riage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. ular careers. Members of apostolic societies are faithful Who can accept this ought to accept it. (Mt Catholics who pledge to live the evangelical counsels, 19:12) but who do not take formal vows. Consecrated virgins Around the third century, there were already a few are women who dedicate themselves to virginity or Christians who were renouncing marriage, personal perpetual chastity. Members of third orders are lay- property, and even most social interactions in the people who live according to the rules of a religious name of discipleship. Some went off to the desert to order, but don’t necessarily live in community. Living live alone as hermits. Eventually, others formed small lives of prayer, penance, and apostolic service, they are communities whose members took vows of poverty, consecrated by the bishop as an image of the heavenly chastity, and obedience. Living these vows was meant bride and of the Kingdom of God that is to come. not only to further their own holiness, but also to give dramatic witness to all Christians to pursue lives of Holiness of Married Life holiness. Their intention was to also offer prayer for Like Holy Orders, Matrimony is one of the sacraments the Church and the world. at the Service of Communion. In marriage the hus- Over time consecrated religious life blossomed into band and wife focus on one another. It is this self-giv- many different forms. Monastic communities such as ing love that brings them their holiness and salvation. the Benedictines, Trappists, and Carmelites continue Through their service to each other and their intimate to be present for both men and women. In the Middle union, a husband and wife “experience the meaning of Ages, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic founded their oneness and attain to it with growing perfection two religious communities that combined prayer and day by day” (Gaudium et Spes, 48). solitude with active ministry in the world. Other com- The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are munities later emerged that were founded based on a an encounter with God’s grace. This isn’t something charism or commitment to a particular ministry or that happens only on the wedding day. In fact, it is apostolate in the world. Two visible results today of the very ordinariness of married life that witnesses to these apostolates are Catholic schools and Catholic the graced character of a sacramental marriage. Daily hospitals that were originally totally staffed by women and men from various religious communities. In male communities, some men are also ordained to the priest- hood. Those who are not are called “brothers.” Among the “sisters” who are professed religious, the term “nun” technically refers to women who live a monastic or cloistered life dedicated to prayer and contemplation. There are other forms of consecrated life that con- tinue as a part of Church life and are ways to holiness. Members of secular institutes are men or women who consecrate themselves to God through the profession of vows, particularly to celibacy, but generally do not “With parents leading the way by example and family prayer, children and indeed everyone gathered around the family hearth will find a readier live in community. Rather, they dedicate themselves to path to human maturity, salvation, and holiness” (Gaudium et Spes, 48). Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 115 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year. activities like preparing dinner, shopping for groceries, Greek word used in the New Testament for this kind folding laundry, picking up the children at school, and of love is agape. This kind of love goes beyond roman- listening to a spouse share the events of his or her day tic desires and fantasies. It offers ways to celebrate an can be moments of grace that lead to the perfection ever-deepening intimacy. It leads the spouses to grow of holiness. These activities can also be done by single in holiness and work toward salvation in partnership people, but take on a different meaning when engaged with one another. Thus in marriage the husband and in by a married couple. These simple actions become wife are truly holy companions. the sacramental expressions with meaning because they are lifelong and unconditional. They become sym- Holiness of Single Life bolic actions that say in effect, “In this simple act of As the average age for marriage continues to rise for care, I want you to know that I am now and will always both males and females, the number of single Catholics be concerned about your needs.” also increases. Eventually, most Catholics, as with other The sexual relationship of a husband and wife is young adults, do marry. But, being single, even for a the more profound example of the sacramental real- lifetime, does not prohibit a person from living a life ity of marriage. When a husband and wife make love, of holiness that, like those who take public vows in the they consummate or seal their sacramental commit- consecrated life, is rooted in a commitment to chastity. ment. The love and union between the two of them, For example, Catholic singles are often involved in expressed in their sexual sharing, is also intended to a number of parish-sponsored programs that are typi- be fruitful, that is open to children. cally educational, service-oriented, or social in nature. A married couple’s sacramental union constitutes This type of Church participation promotes holiness the beginning of what the Second Vatican Council among single Catholics. called “an intimate partnership of married life and Consider the experience of Michael Quinn, a love” (Gaudium et Spes, 48). Marriage is also the root young lawyer who attended a parish series on Catho- of the domestic church, a “church of the home” that lic social teaching. The series inspired him to look into ordinarily bears fruitfulness of the couple’s love in the ways he could personally help the poor. He began to children they will welcome and raise. But even couples that are unable to have children must see that their love can be put to the service of others. Catholic married couples are called not only to ensure the happiness of one another, but also to ensure one another’s holiness as well. This takes place through the sharing of the kind of love that is concerned with the care and well-being of another. Recall that the domestic church A name for the Christian family. In the family, parents and children exercise their priesthood of the baptized by worshiping God, receiving the sacraments, and witnessing to Christ and the Church by living as faith- ful disciples. Committed Catholic singles are often involved in various forms of service. 116 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  Single life is an authentic and valuable vocation that more and more Catholics are freely choosing. volunteer regularly to prepare meals at the local home- The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains some less shelter. Later he developed a presentation for the of the reasons a person might choose to remain single: senior partners in his law firm to increase the amount Some forgo marriage in order to care for their of pro bono work they would do on behalf of the poor. parents or brothers and sisters, to give them- Michael also wound up meeting Maureen, the selves more completely to a profession, or to woman he would eventually marry, at one of the dioc- serve other honorable ends. They can contrib- esan “Theology on Tap” events—gatherings usually ute greatly to the good of the human family. held in a social setting, such as a bar or restaurant, (CCC, 2231) during which a priest or another speaker leads conver- Single persons have a greater opportunity for sation about faith. Michael and Maureen considered silence and solitude that may translate to a deeper the information they heard at one of these sessions prayer life. Because they are not committed to one rela- promoting Church teaching on chastity as impetus for tionship, single persons are free to love all and develop them not living together and for abstaining from sex friendships with men and women of a variety of ages. until they got married. People committed to remaining single are often people Michael and Maureen might be called “transitional with a dedicated focus on a career or interest that may singles” because they eventually did marry. Other have great benefits to humanity; for example, as a med- Catholics make the commitment to remain single for ical researcher or as a missionary to a foreign country. a lifetime. Both groups of singles must practice chastity All of these elements of the committed single life lead that is witnessed in celibacy. Transitional singles keep to growth in holiness for both the single person and the promise of celibacy until they are married. Lifetime for all those he or she knows, loves, and serves. singles make a personal consecration or commitment to celibacy. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 117 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SECTION ASSESSMENT NOTE TAKING Use the matching activity you completed with this section to help you complete the following assignment. 1. Of the six distinctions of vocations in your notes, name those that are part of the minis- terial priesthood. VOCABULARY ? Rewrite each sentence to make it true. 2. Sacramental graces are the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ, given only to men at their ordination. 3. A vocation is the calling to an individual career that is intended to build up a Christian’s life while on earth. 4. The common priesthood of the faithful is exercised when a Catholic commits himself or herself to one of the Church’s vocations: ordination, consecrated life, marriage, or single life. 5. The evangelical counsels are faith, hope, and love. 6. The domestic church is another name for the local parish. COMPREHENSION 7. Why were the Old Testament prophets concerned that Israel had put too much emphasis on the sacrifice of the priest? 8. How is Jesus’ sacrifice different from those offered in the Old Testament? 9. Name three acts of service that help a priest grow in holiness. APPLICATION 10. Give an example of an ordinary event of married life that might be an opportunity for married couples to grow in holiness. 11. Share a situation whereby a person might choose to commit to the single life for good reason. 118 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  SECTION 3 many Christians dedicated their lives to the Gospel Canonized Saints: and were arrested, persecuted, and even killed for their Faith by the Roman government. Those who died this Models of Holiness way were martyrs, and their names and brief stories of their lives were recorded in local martyrologies. As martyrdom diminished when Christianity became legal, Christians began to define holiness in MAIN IDEA In every age the Church venerates men and women other ways. For example, a person’s holiness was typ- who are called saints and asks for their intercession. ically marked by a life of prayer, self-denial in giving witness to Christ, and publicly living the virtues. Also, miracles associated with a Christian began to be regarded as the proof of a person’s worthiness for sainthood. One of the miracles commonly asso- ciated with a saint was the incorruption of the body; that is, the body did not decay after death. The relics of the saint then became regarded as objects that not only connected a person to the saint, but as sacred Every era in the Church’s history has produced saints, items of healing power themselves. During the Middle holy persons who live by the grace of the Holy Spirit Ages, relics were collected and shared with many local and who offer inspiration for others to live good and churches. Because of this, the veneration or honoring holy lives. The practice of honoring saints and recog- of saints began to spread beyond their own regions nizing them for their holy lives goes back to the early and nations. Church. In the years when Christianity was illegal, NOTE Draw Conclusions. As you read the stories of the three models of holiness profiled in this section (pages 121–124) create a table like the one below to help TAKING you list examples of how they exemplify the following characteristics of holiness. Prayer Self-Denial Living the Virtues St. Francis de Sales St. Thérèse of Lisieux Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 119 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  As more and more saints were venerated, the Church recognized a need to regulate who could be called a saint. Christians needed to be assured they were not honoring or asking for intercession of fic- tional characters or of people who did not truly live holy lives. It was left to the bishop of a particular region to determine whether or not a person could be named a saint. Bishops received and studied the biographies of those considered for sainthood and heard testimony about miracles associated with them. If the bishop approved the person for sainthood, the body of the person would be exhumed and moved to an altar and a feast day for the saint would be assigned on the Church calendar within that diocese or province. Eventually the pope became more involved in approving a person for sainthood. At first he became responsible for allowing the transfer of a person’s rel- ics and the introduction of the saint to a particular area. Later he took on the right to formally declare that a person is in Heaven and worthy of veneration as a saint. This declaration is known as canonization. The first saint to be officially canonized was St. Ulrich Pilgrims sleep outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City of Augsburg by Pope John XV in 933. in preparation for the feast day, December 12. Today, the canonization process includes a detailed examination of a person’s life, teachings, and works. Miller once observed that “a saint is a sinner, writ large, The Church also investigates whether miracles took someone who struggles exceptionally hard to turn a place through this person’s intercession. After suc- bad thing into a good one.” St. Augustine, who lived cessful scrutiny, the process proceeds to beatification, a publicly scandalous life before conversion, comes to which allows the faithful to call the person “Blessed.” mind (see page 257). Theologian Lawrence Cunning- Finally, after the validation of further miracles, the ham defined saints in this way: “A saint is a person so cause of the holy person proceeds to canonization and grasped by a religious vision that it becomes central to the new saint is officially enrolled in the canon or list his or her life in a way that radically changes the person of saints. The pope continues to oversee the process and leads others to glimpse the value of that vision.” of canonization. Put another way, saints are members of our Catholic family who inspire and lead us to holiness. Praying to the Saints Sometimes Catholics are criticized for holding The fact that some followers of Christ have been can- saints in honor. You may have heard a question like, onized to sainthood does not mean that they were per- “Why do Catholics worship saints?” or “Why do Cath- fect people. Twentieth-century Church historian Perry olics pray to saints?” The first question is inaccurate; 120 Jesus and the Church Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year.  Catholics do not worship saints. Only God merits holiness by their words and actions; perhaps a friend worship as accorded in the First Commandment. The who walks away whenever someone begins to gossip second question usually refers to the veneration or or another who avoids sinful pressures of drugs and honor Catholics offer saints and the intercession asked sex before marriage. Of the many holy people in the of saints. In these cases, Catholics do pray to saints. Church’s history, three described here not only lived But, remember, the word “pray” means something holy lives, they also consciously encouraged others to very different from worship. To seek the intercession of do so as well. the saints should come naturally to any Christian since we all have the obligation to pray for one another. Is St. Francis de Sales there any more basic expression of our Christian soli- St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622), a bishop of Geneva, darity than to pray for the needs of another and to ask made ecumenical work a focus of his ministry. He others to do the same for us? This commitment rises worked to restore peace to the Church after the Coun- from our unity in the Body of Christ, a grace given cil of Trent through preaching and writing. One of to us at Baptism. And neither this unity nor commit- his special concerns was to reconvert the Calvinists, a ment to pray for one another ends at death. We do not splinter church established by John Calvin in Switzer- cease to be members of the Body of Christ when we land during the time of the Protestant Reformation. enter the divine presence of Heaven. Those who are in Heaven do not stop caring for their family who remain on earth. It is only natural to pray to saints we know to be in Heaven to ask for their intercession. Belief in the communion of saints is a belief that those who have died and come into the beatific vision in Heaven, by virtue of their remarkable intimacy with God, are uniquely equipped to pray for people on earth on our behalf to the Heavenly Father. All the saints model Christian living and are examples of holiness, worthy of emulation. Models of Holiness You can probably name several people of all ages whom you can describe as holy. You might think of a neigh- bor who always is available when someone is in need. Perhaps she prepares full meals for a family when the mother has just given birth to a child, or for another St. Francis de Sales family who has experienced an unexpected death. You likely also can name several of your peers who emit beatific vision Seeing God “face-to-face” in Heaven, the source of our eternal happiness; the final union with the intercession A prayer of petition for the sake of others. Triune God for all eternity. Chapter 3: The Church Is Holy 121 Licensed to Bishop Gorman High School for the 2024–25 school year. Calvin denied the sacraments and condemned the papacy, monasticism, and clerical celibacy. Calvin’s best-known doctrine is predestination, which falsely taught that God determines people for Salvation or damnation before they are born. Francis de Sales coun- tered Calvinism with conciliatory words and was not harsh or condemning. He never preached with a desire to “win” as if in battle with the Calvinists. He said: “Whoever wants to preach effectively must preach with love.” A Calvinist minister in Geneva said of St. Francis: “If we honored anyone as a saint, I know of no one since the days of the Apostles more worthy of it than this man.” Francis believed that every Christian had a voca- tion to holiness. He counseled many laypeople and wrote the Introduction to the Devout Life and the trea- tise On the Love of God. Both are still popular today. In St. Thérèse of Lisieux each of these he taught that holiness is not reserved for monks or hermits, but is for every person no matter his depths, regardless of personal cost. “How can a soul or her state in life. A famous quotation of Francis that as imperfect as mine aspire to the possession of love?” describes the universal call to holiness that he preached she wondered. to all people is “bloom where you are planted.” Thérèse adopted a symbol for her life, the “little flower.” She said she was like the little flower that sur- St. Thérèse of Lisieux vives the harshest conditions of winter only to appear The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls love “the again in the spring. Her goal in life was to go to Heaven soul of holiness to which all are called” (CCC, 826). and her plan to achieve this was, in her words, “the Love “governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of little way.” Thérèse’s little way translated to accepting sanctification” (Lumen Gentium, 42). Love as the path some of the bothersome events of her life in Jesus’ to holiness is something understood by St. Thérèse name. For example, one time Thérèse leaned over a of Lisieux (1873–1897). She called love “the vocation wash pool with a group of sisters washing some cloth- which includes all others; it’s a universe of its own, ing. One of the sisters splashed the hot, dirty water on comprising all time and space—it’s eternal.” Thérèse not one time, but multiple times. Thérèse was A young Carmelite nun who died at an early age, near to exploding, but she said nothing, offering up Thérèse and her words would have never been known the sister’s lack of consideration t