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 Gifts 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
life-long 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
well-formed
conscience and
making a moral
choice based on it is
an opportunity for
growth in holiness.
 STEPS TO SAINTHOOD
SERVANT OF GOD
The first stage of the process begins with the official
opening of the Cause by the Bishop of the Diocese
where the Servant of God died, and the appointment
of a Postulator, to assist in its promotion. The Bishop
then nominates various Officials for a Tribunal, to
gather all the evidence for and against the
Canonization. Two theologians examine the Servant of
God’s writings to make sure that there is nothing in
them contrary to the Faith and Moral teaching of the
Church. Afterwards they proceed to taking the
testimony of witnesses who knew well the candidate.
 STEPS TO SAINTHOOD
VENERABLE SERVANT OF GOD:
The second step toward canonization starts when all the
evidence is studied by the Congregation for Causes of Saints
in Rome. If the evidence reveals true holiness exercised by
the Servant of God, the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation
informs the Pope that the Servant of God either was a true
Martyr or has lived a life of extraordinary and heroic virtue.
The Pope then orders the Congregation to issue the Decree
either of Martyrdom or of Heroic Virtue, and the Servant of
God is given the title “Venerable”. This means that the
Servant of God either died as a true Martyr for Christ or led a
life of heroic virtue and, is worthy of imitation by the Faithful.
 STEPS TO SAINTHOOD
BLESSED
When the Servant of God has been declared a
Martyr he or she may be beatified, that is, declared
“Blessed”. If, on the other hand, the Servant of
God has been declared to have lived a life of
heroic virtue, it must be proven that one miracle
has been granted by God through the intercession
of the Venerable Servant of God. Then, he or she
is declared “Blessed.”
 STEPS TO SAINTHOOD
SAINT/CANONIZATION
For all those beatified, both Martyrs and
Confessors, to be canonized one miracle
is required. It must be proven that this
event took place through the intercession
of the Blessed and after the date of his or
her Beatification .