– Holiness (...) is not a privilege of few, but a gift that obliges all baptized 1 to strive for the perfection of love, or full of love, by virtue of God and neighbor – said the Holy Father during the Wednesday general audience on 8 April. Continuing to discuss the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium, he spoke in his catechesis of holiness and evangelical counsel in the Church.
The Holy Father recalled that the 5th chapter Lumen gentium speaks of the universal vocation to holiness. – Holiness... is not a privilege of few, but a gift that obliges all baptized 1 to prosecute the perfection of love, or full of love, by virtue of God and neighbor said Leon XIV. He explained that it involves surviving in grace, practicing virtues, and following Christ. Its highest expression is martyrdom, but it is besides carried out in the regular evidence of religion and commitment to justice.
The Pope pointed out that the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist, are food that makes life sacred in us, resembling all individual to Christ, who is simply a model and measurement of holiness. Holiness, as the Holy Father pointed out, is the gift of Christ, which is manifested in our regular lives all time we receive Him with joy and respond with commitment.
He recalled that although the Church is holy, she besides experiences the sin of her members. – The sad reality of sin in the Church, that is, in all of us, encourages everyone to make a serious change in life by entrusting himself to the Lord, who renews us in love. It is this infinite grace which sanctifies the Church that sets us a mission to fulfill day after day, and it is the mission of our conversion. Therefore, holiness is not simply practical, as if it could be brought to any ethical obligation, even a large one, but concerns the very essence of Christian, individual and community life The Holy Father pointed out.
In this context, Leon XIV emphasized the function of consecrated life as a sign of God’s Kingdom through evangelical counsel: poverty, cleanliness, and obedience. – These 3 virtues are not precepts that hinder freedom, but liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit, through which any faithful are wholly consecrated to God. poorness expresses the complete trust of Providence, freeing from calculating and seeking its own benefit; obedience is like the gift of Christ to the Father, freeing from suspicion and striving to dominate; purity is simply a sacrifice of the heart of the indivisible and pure in love, in the service of God and the Church – explained the Pope.
He added that consecrated persons show a extremist imitation of Christ and remind us that any experience, including suffering, can become a way to holiness.
Source: KAI
