Those who are called to the priestly or religious life receive a very special grace and are provided with abundant means to grow in holiness. If they embrace it and live it well, they will be able to attain a higher perfection than would be possible for them if they were to refuse this grace and continue an ordinary life in the world. This is not because religious are called to a different holiness than other Christians but because they receive so many helps to grow in holiness, and because they are given special graces to embrace this way of life that is modeled closely on Christ’s own manner of life.
Although no one is strictly obligated to embrace the evangelical counsels as such, a given individual may imperil his salvation by refusing to follow a special call to dedicate his or her life wholly to the service of God. Paul could say, “Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9.16)
How can an individual recognize the way of life to which he is called by God? First of all one must have recourse to prayer, and while one prays, one must try to maintain an attitude of perfect detachment, not allowing oneself to be inclined to one alternative rather than to another before God manifests His will. One must maintain a spirit of generosity and readiness to embrace whatever God reveals to be His will. If one prays, reflects, and seeks in this manner, God will let the person know what He wills for the person.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Prayers at the Foot of the Altar
Showing posts with label herosim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label herosim. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Obedience
Obedience:
Jesus merited our redemption by His perfect obedience even unto death. He came into the world to offer the sacrifice of perfect obedience to his Father. His very food was to do the will of the Father. He learned obedience from what He suffered and became the source of salvation for all who obey Him. It is because of Jesus’ obedience unto death that God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every other name.
God values obedience more than sacrifice. The prophet Samuel said to King Saul: “Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15.22).
“Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account…” (Heb 13.17).
In early monasticism, the monk took only one vow, that of obedience. The first monks understood that to give obedience is to give all, because obedience includes the observance of poverty, chastity, charity, work, silence, liturgy of the hours, and all else that God requires of a monk.
If we are all called to the same holiness, why should anyone become a religious or priest? Why should one embrace the sacrifices involved in a life of poverty, celibacy, and obedience? One might say, “Because it is the person’s vocation.” That is true, but why does God call some people to this state of life? Does it have any special advantages and benefits for the person or for the Church?
On one occasion, Peter asked Jesus what His disciples would receive in return for leaving all things to follow Him. Jesus promised a hundredfold blessing and eternal life:
“We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on His throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19.27-29)
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Jesus merited our redemption by His perfect obedience even unto death. He came into the world to offer the sacrifice of perfect obedience to his Father. His very food was to do the will of the Father. He learned obedience from what He suffered and became the source of salvation for all who obey Him. It is because of Jesus’ obedience unto death that God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every other name.
God values obedience more than sacrifice. The prophet Samuel said to King Saul: “Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15.22).
“Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account…” (Heb 13.17).
In early monasticism, the monk took only one vow, that of obedience. The first monks understood that to give obedience is to give all, because obedience includes the observance of poverty, chastity, charity, work, silence, liturgy of the hours, and all else that God requires of a monk.
If we are all called to the same holiness, why should anyone become a religious or priest? Why should one embrace the sacrifices involved in a life of poverty, celibacy, and obedience? One might say, “Because it is the person’s vocation.” That is true, but why does God call some people to this state of life? Does it have any special advantages and benefits for the person or for the Church?
On one occasion, Peter asked Jesus what His disciples would receive in return for leaving all things to follow Him. Jesus promised a hundredfold blessing and eternal life:
“We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on His throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19.27-29)
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Evangelical Councils
All Christians in every walk of life are called to the perfection of love and to one and the same holiness: “Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love…In the various types and duties of life, one and the same is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God” (LG).
This does not mean that all members of the Church are called to the same degree of holiness-individuals differ in their gifts and response to grace-but all are called to the same kind of holiness. There is not a higher holiness reserved for priests and religious and an inferior kind reserved for housewives and farm laborers. All are called to essentially the same kind of holiness. Mary, The Mother of God, achieved the greatest holiness of any mere creature, but she was not a religious. The degree of holiness attained by each person depends on the gift of God’s grace and the cooperation of each one with that grace, whether one by a lay person, a cleric, or religious.
The evangelical counsels are so called because they are based on the teaching and example of Christ and the apostles. Therefore, if we want to attain holiness, we must embrace them. They are found in the gospels and other New Testament writings:
Poverty:
Jesus counseled a rich young man who was seeking perfection to embrace a life of poverty: “If you will be perfect, go sell all you have and give to the poor and come follow me” (Mt 19. 16-22). He surprised His disciples by His stern warning about the danger of riches, and promised manifold blessings to those who give up all things to follow Him (Mt. 19. 20-29).
By His own life Jesus shows by example what it means to live a poor life: he was born in a stable, had no place to lay His head, was stripped at His death, and was buried in another’s tomb.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
This does not mean that all members of the Church are called to the same degree of holiness-individuals differ in their gifts and response to grace-but all are called to the same kind of holiness. There is not a higher holiness reserved for priests and religious and an inferior kind reserved for housewives and farm laborers. All are called to essentially the same kind of holiness. Mary, The Mother of God, achieved the greatest holiness of any mere creature, but she was not a religious. The degree of holiness attained by each person depends on the gift of God’s grace and the cooperation of each one with that grace, whether one by a lay person, a cleric, or religious.
The evangelical counsels are so called because they are based on the teaching and example of Christ and the apostles. Therefore, if we want to attain holiness, we must embrace them. They are found in the gospels and other New Testament writings:
Poverty:
Jesus counseled a rich young man who was seeking perfection to embrace a life of poverty: “If you will be perfect, go sell all you have and give to the poor and come follow me” (Mt 19. 16-22). He surprised His disciples by His stern warning about the danger of riches, and promised manifold blessings to those who give up all things to follow Him (Mt. 19. 20-29).
By His own life Jesus shows by example what it means to live a poor life: he was born in a stable, had no place to lay His head, was stripped at His death, and was buried in another’s tomb.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Catholic Church
The Church in this world knows all the vicissitudes of human history: successes and failure, persecution and prosperity, heroism and betrayal, glory and shame, periods of fervent growth and periods of sad decline. She experiences a great tension in being called to holiness which she must ever strive for, but which she can never perfectly attain in this world. In some of her most admired members she reveals marvelous goodness and holiness, in her more ordinary and sinful members she reveals mediocrity, sin, and even great scandal. While she is always blessed with the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and always remains the visible sacrament of salvation for all mankind, as long as the Church is on pilgrimage in this world, she must groan under her own imperfections, and must struggle on, ever renewing herself, to attain the holiness and glory to which the Risen Lord calls her.
The Church is also drawn by Christ to her future existence beyond time. When Christ comes again in glory, and the last enemy, death, has been destroyed (1Cor 15.26f), when sin has been cast out and every evil overcome, and every tear has been wiped away (Rev 7.17, 21.4), the Bride of the Lamb will appear in all her radiant beauty, without stain or wrinkle, and will enter into the unimaginable glory of the Lord. The Heavenly Jerusalem will be revealed in all its splendor (Rev 21), which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man ever conceived (1Cor 2.9). The corruption of this world will pass away, and a new heaven and a new earth will appear, this present world having undergone a profound transformation that fills it with the glory of God. The risen Lord will raise up our mortal bodies, endowing them with the marvelous qualities of His own glorified body: spirituality, incorruptibility, agility, and resplendent glory (1Cor 15. 42-44).
We shall be one with God; indeed, we shall be like God, since we shall see Him as He is (1Jn 3.2). Thus we shall fully experience what it means to be sons of God. Unless we see the Church from this perspective and unless we live in this lively hope, we are missing the richest dimensions of the Church’s total existence. But we must also remember that the Church as she exists now is already participating in the eternal! Listen to the words of Lumen Gentium:
The promised and hoped for restoration has already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the Holy Ghost and through Him continues in the Church…Already the final age of the world is with us and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way. It is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect…
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
The Church is also drawn by Christ to her future existence beyond time. When Christ comes again in glory, and the last enemy, death, has been destroyed (1Cor 15.26f), when sin has been cast out and every evil overcome, and every tear has been wiped away (Rev 7.17, 21.4), the Bride of the Lamb will appear in all her radiant beauty, without stain or wrinkle, and will enter into the unimaginable glory of the Lord. The Heavenly Jerusalem will be revealed in all its splendor (Rev 21), which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man ever conceived (1Cor 2.9). The corruption of this world will pass away, and a new heaven and a new earth will appear, this present world having undergone a profound transformation that fills it with the glory of God. The risen Lord will raise up our mortal bodies, endowing them with the marvelous qualities of His own glorified body: spirituality, incorruptibility, agility, and resplendent glory (1Cor 15. 42-44).
We shall be one with God; indeed, we shall be like God, since we shall see Him as He is (1Jn 3.2). Thus we shall fully experience what it means to be sons of God. Unless we see the Church from this perspective and unless we live in this lively hope, we are missing the richest dimensions of the Church’s total existence. But we must also remember that the Church as she exists now is already participating in the eternal! Listen to the words of Lumen Gentium:
The promised and hoped for restoration has already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the Holy Ghost and through Him continues in the Church…Already the final age of the world is with us and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way. It is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect…
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)