Catherine of Siena Levels of Glory St Teresa Never Sin Again Glory Heaven
Editor's annotation: The following homily was preached by the Reverend Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., S.T.D., on Sunday, November 19, 2017 at the Church building of the Holy Innocents, Manhattan.
In keeping with the mind of the Church in these concluding weeks of the liturgical year, we continue our consideration of the finish-times. Concluding week, we reflected on 3 of the four "last things": death, judgment, and Hell. Today nosotros'll look at the more pleasant topic of Heaven.
Life here below is all well-nigh the pursuit of sanctity. How does one get about that process, so as to know the greatest mensurate of fulfillment now, as well every bit beatitude for all eternity? Saint Teresa of Ávila offered a uncomplicated but profound insight: "Trifles brand for holiness, but holiness is no trifle." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declared: "For here we have no lasting city, but nosotros seek the urban center which is to come" (Heb 13:14). That does not hateful that we despise this earth; it does hateful, all the same, that we sympathise that we were made for more.
So, how does i get to "the more than," that is, Heaven? By beingness a saint on earth. And how does one become a saint? Past living a life of holiness. And in what does holiness consist? Permit me suggest seven elements.
1. Holiness consists in existence childlike. Our Lord Himself asserted – unequivocally – "unless yous turn and get like petty children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven" (Mt 18:3). But, equally you take undoubtedly heard many times, being childlike is quite different from beingness kittenish. Saint Thérèse, for instance, was devoted to the Holy Child Jesus considering she found in Him all the qualities to become a saint herself. What is spiritual childhood, you lot ask?
The pseudo-sophisticates of the ii last centuries of blood and violence need to acknowledge that their programs take failed abysmally and that the human being capacity for God can only be satisfied when one approaches that God equally a child accepts the loving overtures of a begetter.
2. Holiness consists in having a strong dearest for the Holy Eucharist. You cannot point to a single saint in history who did not accept a special devotion to the Eucharistic Christ. Let merely two serve as representatives of hundreds of others.
In Loss and Gain, Key Newman's autobiographical novel, he has his alter ego proclaim:
To me nothing is so consoling, then piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass. . . . I could attend Masses for always and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words, – it is a bully action, the greatest activity that can be on globe. Information technology is, not the invocation merely, just, if I dare use the word, the evocation of the Eternal. He becomes present on the altar in mankind and blood, before whom angels bow and devils tremble.
Saint José Maria Escrivá asserts: "A very of import characteristic of the apostolic man is his love for the Mass." We are allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation betwixt him and one of his spiritual directees: "'The Mass is long,' you lot say, and I reply, 'Because your love is brusque.'"
In light of these brief merely powerful statements, what are we to think of would-be theologians who tell usa that Jesus is equally present in nature or in ourselves as in the Bread of the Eucharist – even though the Second Vatican Council and all the Popes since then have said otherwise? What shall be say when polls tell u.s.a. that ii-thirds of those who receive the Lord in Holy Communion each Sun do not believe in His Real Presence? What shall be our reply when so many clergy and laity alike fail to give the reverence and admiration due the Sacrament in which is contained the 2d Person of the Blessed Trinity? How should we react to those (God forbid, some of usa included) who make sacrilegious Communions by budgeted the holy altar while still in the grip of sin and out of fear of human respect?
three. Holiness consists in devotion to the Blessed Mother. The Fathers of Vatican Two in their Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, highlighted numerous titles of the Blest Virgin, all of which find their way into the Catechism of the Cosmic Church, where we read:
This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Announcement and which she sustained without wavering below the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to Heaven she did not lay aside this saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring the states the gifts of eternal conservancy. Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix. (n. 969)
As should be readily seen, the titles chosen by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Quango underscore Mary's role as an intercessor on our behalf.
Cardinal Newman shares some wise advice he once received: "I recall one maxim among others of my confessor, a Jesuit Father, one of the holiest, virtually prudent men I e'er knew. He said that we could not love the Blest Virgin too much, if nosotros loved Our Lord a great deal more than."
iv. Holiness consists in doing the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well. The saint of "The Piffling Way" accomplished sanctity, precisely by attending to the humdrum details of daily existence with perfection and devotion. Whether she was sweeping the stairs, or working in the sacristy, or giving germination to the novices, she did everything with verve, deliberateness, and conviction. Not for her, the slipshod, the careless, or the half-hearted style of doing things. She believed that "God is in the details," and that attending to such details led i along the route to perfection.
Simplicity, notwithstanding, should never be mistaken for simple-mindedness or a simplistic method of evaluating life. Every bit we hunt after fame and fortune, equally we seek marvels and wonders, equally we try to provide a careful dash for every educational activity of Christ and His Church building, we complicate what God has actually made very simple. Perpetual malcontents, unsatisfied with their Christian vocation, miss out on the opportunities which the Lord offers each 1 of us to achieve sanctity in the world of business concern, in academia, in the family, in public service.
Saint José Maria Escrivá, promoter of the lay vocation decades earlier the 2nd Vatican Council, asks a question and rapidly answers it: "Practice you actually want to be a saint? Bear out the piffling duty of each moment: Practise what you ought and put yourself into what you are doing." He encourages someone who longs to do great things for God: "Persevere in the exact fulfillment of the obligations of the moment. That piece of work – humble, monotonous, pocket-size – is prayer expressed in activity, which prepares you to receive the grace of that other work – great and broad and deep – of which y'all dream." Then he makes a charming observation: "Didn't yous see the light in Jesus' optics when the poor widow left her little alms in the Temple? Give Him what you lot tin: The merit is non in whether information technology is big or small, only in the intention with which y'all requite it."
The Little Flower summarizes information technology all rather well: "Nothing is an obstacle to holiness. Unlike temperaments, situations in which nosotros find ourselves, duties in our country in life, tin become material for sanctity."
v. Holiness consists in embracing the sufferings that come our way. A indicate characteristic of our age is the avoidance of suffering at all cost; therefore, it is not surprising to detect folks today who recall that the credence of suffering is neurotic at best and psychotic at worst. Simply that is to misunderstand the Christian "take" on these matters.
The first point that must be perceived is that the believer does not suffer lonely – he suffers in union with Christ, which suffering is redemptive for the ane suffering and for any for whom he offers his sufferings. Practise yous call up what Saint Paul taught the Colossians: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I consummate what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his torso, that is, the church" (Col ane:24)? Does that audio blasphemous? What could be lacking to the sufferings of the God-Human? Our participation. The Head of the Body has indeed suffered and boozer from the chalice of suffering to the full, only what Saint Augustine calls the Totus Christus (the whole Christ), that is, His Mystical Body which is the Church building, is chosen to drink deeply from that chalice too. As nosotros do that, we practice it in union with the suffering Christ and in marriage with every other believer who has always lived and suffered in His Name or is doing so presently.
Christians, however, are not masochists. We do not go out of our way to seek out crosses to carry. Yet, whether ane is a skeptic, an agnostic, an atheist or a disciple of Christ, no human can keep suffering at bay forever. Some avoid it; some delay it; nonetheless others refuse it, with horror, resentment or rage. Dr. Kevorkian never would have had whatsoever clients or political allies if a truly Christian appreciation of the value of suffering were in place. To repeat: A Christian need non – and should not – look for crosses; but when they come, one must pray for the ability to deal with them lovingly and humanly, resulting in an increment in human being nobility, an increment in love in the world, and an increase in glory in Sky.
6. Holiness consists in the want to please God. Much of what nosotros do seems calculated to earn u.s.a. a reward or to avoid a penalty, simply that is a very stingy, selfish approach to the living of the Christian life. The traditional act of contrition puts words on our lips which call to mind that while, humanly speaking, we are sad for our sins because we "dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell," we are urged to advance to a more perfect grade of sorrow, that is, "because [my sins] offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love."
Our fright of the Lord every bit disciples of Jesus should not be a servile fear merely a filial fear. What's the difference? Servile fear moves a person to avoid certain acts because ane is in terror of the chastisement of a monstrous master. Filial fear, on the other hand, moves one to avoid sin because he knows God as a loving Father, Whom he would never wish to displease.
And if we alive to please God, we need to recollect that He has washed all by His sovereign Will, non to delight Himself in some kind of divine narcissism, but because that volition ultimately benefit usa. We desire to delight Him in all things considering, in humility, we know that He does know best; that He has our best interests at heart; that He is, in the words of Saint Augustine, "intimior intimo meo" [closer to me than I am to myself].
seven. Holiness consists in having a sense of humor. Some people have added an eleventh commandment to the Decalogue: "Yard shalt be glum." In truth, they firmly believe that the more sour one'southward puss, the holier one must be. How incongruous that is, however, especially when we notation that Christians are commissioned to exist messengers of the Gospel, that is, "practiced news." Now, this anomaly struck fifty-fifty and so vehement an opponent of Christianity as Nietzsche, who quipped: "If Christians wanted me to believe in their God, they would have to look more redeemed!" The greatest saints, yet, were not bleak, depressing sorts. Saint Philip Neri was a practical jokester. Saint Teresa of Ávila oftentimes asked God to deliver her from would-be saints who made a career out of looking miserable.
Practiced humor makes external various interior dispositions. Peacefulness, calmness, delectation, acceptance of God'south Will in one's life – all make for 18-carat joy, which is not a cheap brand of hilarity or superficiality. Joy arises from the sure conviction that God is in charge, and that cipher will happen this twenty-four hours that He and I – together – will exist unable to handle. Joy comes most because of the awareness that the greatest battles in life – against the globe, the flesh and the Devil – take been fought – and won – past Jesus Christ; information technology but remains for us to claim the victory. This blazon of perspective on reality provides a person with a existent humor, which is a plumbing fixtures and necessary pre-status for entrance into a state of eternal joy.
Pope Benedict opened his apostolic letter promulgating the 2012 "Yr of Faith" with these stirring and challenging words:
The "door of faith" is always open for united states of america, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into His Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the Give-and-take of God is proclaimed and the middle allows itself to exist shaped past transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journeying that lasts a lifetime.
Well, we have come to the end of our course in the making of a saint, and the i matter that should strike us is how incredibly easy – and enjoyable – information technology all should exist. Of course, someone like Saint Thérèse gear up the goal of her life in childhood, as she mentioned so often: "I've always wished that I could be a saint." And so she gives a final piece of advice, advice all of united states would practise well to heed: "Believe me, don't wait until tomorrow to brainstorm condign a saint." Every bit the Holy Father said, it's "a journey that lasts a lifetime," but we need to embark on that journey today. Saint Catherine of Siena put it very succinctly: "All the way to Heaven is Heaven."
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Source: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/11/29/all-the-way-to-heaven-is-heaven-7-basic-steps-to-holiness/
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