CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO BE HOLY
Did you know of God's great love for us, He wants us to become "holy" as His beloved Son is holy? In essence, "perfect?" Therefore, anyone who follows Jesus in His footsteps can and should become holy as Jesus!
The Catechism of the Catholic Church ("C.C.C.") 2013 confirms this theological find, "All Christians in any state of walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of Christ." All are called to holiness; perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48, "So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect." This is only in the Gospel of Matthew. However, Luke comes closest in 6:36, "Be merciful as your Father is merciful." Merciful is a feeling that comes from the heart to forgive someone. It ties in with holiness which requires forgiveness from the heart.
Don't let this scare you to say, "I am not Jesus. I can't be perfect." If we are followers of Jesus, we definitely can progress in becoming better persons and reach this fullness of life. We start with following in the steps of our good Lord Jesus.
As we delve through scripture, we find parts of Jesus' life that we can immitate. He wants us to love Him, his Father or neighbor or we can help our neighbor as Christ loved them and help them with shelter, food or clothing or visit people in hospitals and pray for them. Also, one can visit and pray for the prisoners and help them in any way you can. Then, by continual progress, we can pray for the poor souls in purgatory and all other people who are suffering and carrying heavy burdens and need a variety of helps.
As for suggestion at this time in asking God our Father for His help to do His will and ask for blessings for every action you do for every moment in your life. Also, ask Him to even sanctify you and bless you to lead a better life and to become someday holy as Jesus is holy. How we need the theological virtues to support us in holiness.
CHAPTER 2
FAITH
God as an infinite being who was never created, created male and female to His own image and likeness. He created people for Himself to be able to love them and then call them to live with Him for all eternity.
Who is this being who created man with all the faculties of a living God and placed them on earth to be for Himself? This God was a superior infinite being that created the entire universe with billions of stars, a sun and moon; galaxies that are interspersed so precisely that they function as clockwork, not running into each other or the earth to destroy it.
God is not only an infinite being, but He is also divine, holy and a perfect being. And he wants all of us to become perfect as the Heavenly Father. God knows man and He knows how much each person needed help in his living a good and happy life. So, he gave Moses the Ten Commandments and instituted baptism, a sacrament that would provide each person with the Holy Spirit.
This spirit provides each person with seven gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord our God. These are perfections formed within us to assist us to love and worship God and love our neighbor and to enter into eternal love and peace in Heaven. We can use these God-given gifts in our daily life to help us make good decisions when it comes to how to best live our lives in our faith to be happy and earn our way into paradise.
There are many other gifts available from the Holy Spirit, but some of us may decide not to desire these gifts. They take upon themselves to decide what is good or bad and live a life according to their own whims of desires to only give themselves a temporary feeling of peace and happiness.
Many don't feel there is a purpose of life. They say that they will lead a good life and be able to enter Heaven or a good place where they will be happy. How wrong they could be! How can you not believe in God?
1. Common sense dictates that there is some higher power. It could be something in your mind that you cannot express.
2. The creation of the earth and all the heavenly bodies that are still out in space that our telescopes cannot see.
3. Historically, the life of Christ that has been recorded by pagan historians to their kings.
4. Over one billion Catholics believe it could be about the same for other Christian faiths. Also, Muslims believe in God.
CHAPTER 3
HOPE
God places hope in his people through Abraham and Moses by increasing the race as sands of the sea. He also made a new covenant that cannot be broken as it was written in the hearts of people in Jeremiah. "But, this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord. "I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people. No longer will they need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoings and remember their sin no more." This prophesy was fulfilled through Jesus Christ who established a new covenant of himself.
God himself came down from heaven as Jesus to suffer and die for our sins to remove them forever so we can enter paradise with God. In Peter 5:10, God promised, "The God of all grace who called you to this eternal glory though Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you after you have suffered a little. Naturally, all serious sins must be forgiven by God or through confession through a priest with absolution.
In Catechism of the Catholic Church 1818, "The virtue of hope ... takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and sustains him during times of abandonment. It opens up his heart in expectation of external beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity."
Hope is the essence of God's love. Because God loves us so much, we know and feel that God will take care of us. He will never abandon us. We should never despair and feel that God will disappoint us if we are not worthy to be saved. No matter how sinful we may become, we know that God will always forgive us as he "thirsts" for our souls. One of the greatest sins is the sin of presumption whereby we believe we have already been forgiven with no further need of conversion. This can destroy hope.
We must thank God frequently for giving us life and time to repent our transgressions. Pray and thank God for everything we have received from him and live a good and hopeful, holy life.
CHAPTER 4
BEATITUDES
In a book, "A Do It At Home Retreat" written by Andre Ravier using the spiritual exercises by Saint Ignatius of Loyola p.p. 143146, meditation on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus asked the crowd to assemble near the shoreline. In His talk, Jesus will ask for the grace of understanding of the true life and the grace to follow him more closely.
Jesus will open this scripture of the beatitudes and begins with the Kingdom of God is theirs, the poor homeless, those who need help, those who are sick and those in prison will received help and blessings from Jesus as they are the nearest to the kingdom. All the beatitudes have the same trust. They all lead to the same group of people; the poor.
In essence, Jesus rewards those who are the poor and those who pray for them with joy and happiness. It is good and holy of those who can dwell in the beatitudes and receive the pleasure of joy and happiness for our meditation on them.
All his life, Jesus practices the beatitudes for the poor in spirit. Jesus refers to those who live humbly. They are the people who will follow humbly in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
In Matthew 25:40, Jesus explains the result of those who refuse to take care of the poor. "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for the least brothers of mine, you did for me" and failure to provide for the hungry, thirsty, naked, ill, prisoner will result in eternal punishment. Our responsibility is serious. Failure to provide for the hungry will result in eternal punishment.
Jesus can only help the poor only through us. We become the hands and feet of our good Lord.
God does not condemn the materiality the rich. But, as God gives these gifts to us, we are responsible to share them with the less fortunate.
In Matthew 19:16-20, when a rich young man asked what he must do to gain eternal life? Jesus told him to, "Go sell what you have and give it to the poor." The young man could not do it. So, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 19:23-24, "Amen, I say to you it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Again I say to you, it would be easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle that for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven."
The soul that can accept Jesus must be empty and prove free of clutter or concerns and totally open to accommodate the King of Kings.
We can now approach God with empty hands, open soul and great desire to love him as he want to be loved. Now God can find a place to live. Jesus enters and changes our loves. We become one with God. And, with God, we can go forward with confidence. We become a burning flame that can change the world.
CHAPTER 5
HUMILITY
In the book of Revelation, St. Ignatius Loyola takes being humble and modifies it in three degrees or three levels.
The first degree is that the individual would observe the laws of God in all things. He would not consider breaking any of the commandments of God or the church that binds under mortal sin even if it would be to gain the whole world or even if his life depended on it.
The second degree is that the person would have attained a status of soul wherein he does not seek riches, honor, long life, etc. He would not consider committing one venial sin; not even for the entire creation, not even at the risk of saving his life. He loves God with a very high degree of love.
The third degree of humility is that the person would choose poverty rather than riches; humiliation like Christ rather than honors, be a man of no account, a fool for Christ also willing to accept hardship and pain and rejoice in them for the love of God and then praise be given to his Divine Majesty.
The first degree of humility stems around the person who is considered a very good Catholic. He lives a good life and he abides by all the laws and sacraments of the church The second degree Catholic, as far as humility is concerned, has attained a high state of living God's word and does commune with God frequently during the day. He is living in God's word in order to be one with God and one with His people. His neighbor comes before he does and makes sure they are well taken care of. Any free time he has is devoted to others who need his help and guidance in leading a good and happy life.
The third degree includes the first and second degrees, but adds that he would have poverty rather than riches, humiliation with Christ rather than honors or glory and choose to be a man of no account and a fool for Christ.
The paragraphs below will give you a good indication how the apostles lived in bringing the message of Christ to the people. St. Paul expresses it clearly of the degree of humility required in this category in 1st Corinthians 4:10-14. "We are fools on Christ's account, but you are wise wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are held in honor, but we in disrespect." To this very hour, we go hungry and thirsty. We are poorly clad and roughly treated. We wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world's rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment.
CHAPTER 6
SUPERNATURAL LOVE
Spiritual love will take on a different characteristic then ordinary or natural love. Natural love is a feeling between two persons that says, "I like living in your company and being able to accept all of their idiosyncrasies, good and bad habits, their beliefs in something or in God, also his likes and dislikes. Spiritual love goes much beyond this. It is love generated by the Holy Spirit. This love comes directly from the heart and it embodies everything that is pleasing and loving to God our savior. It takes on the characteristics of "agape" love. This love is true love, holy love, love unconditional, and has no bounds.
Supernatural love accepts all hurts, shame, suffering, discord and humiliation. It can live joyfully with any handicap or burden. The reason is the Lord supplies the endurance, the strength, the wisdom to understand and accept the conflicts and problems committed by the natural man.
A case in point of the power and strength of spiritual love is: A husband was an alcoholic, abusive and unfaithful. What can a wife do? There is Alcoholics Anonymous that can help. But the husband goes, then returns and then reverts to being alcoholic and continues his bad habits. The wife considered to be a gift of God. The woman only with natural love might seek a divorce. However, as the marriage took place in church and both husband and wife made a pledge to God for a permanent bond. What happens is God can pour into the woman through Jesus and the Holy Spirit with love. This could definitely hold the marriage together through supernatural love that can help the woman to carry the burden just like Jesus who had to carry His cross. This gives the woman strength and wisdom from God to be patient and to continue to carry her cross as a test for her love of God. In Romans 5:3-5, we are confident even over our afflictions, even knowing well that afflictions rise to endurance and endurance gives proof of our faith and a proved faith gives grounds for hope. Nor this hope deludes us; the love of God has been poured over in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom we have received.
The husband never changed as the habit was so deeply ingrained. The wife continues praying for his conversion. However, the wife can separate and by the grace of God the husband may become converted. The wife then could join her husband and live together.
In the Catholic faith, divorce is not recommended. However, a separation may resolve the problem.
CHAPTER 7
SUPERNATURAL LOVE II
Our family depends highly on supernatural love. Many incidents were prayed for and recovered. Some of the following:
1. My wife had a beautiful golden necklace and put it in a dresser drawer that had a trash can directly under the drawer. She thought it slipped off the top of the drawer and fell into the trash can. She searched the whole can and then she got the trash bag that was before in the can. She looked through the whole bag and could not find it. Then, I asked my son to look through several other drawers. In the meantime, I called upon the Holy Spirit. In two minutes, we found the necklace in the second drawer. My wife was greatly pleased.
2. Anytime I misplaced something of value, I call on the Holy Spirit and I find it in only a couple of minutes.
3. When I began to worry about someone or something, I call upon the Spirit of God and I place the problem in God's hands and the worry stops.
Actually, we receive the power directly from God who transmits the power through Jesus to the Holy Spirit. Living in the Spirit makes life a lot easier and more joyful. This is all God given. We can only do what God has permitted us to do.
In our earthly living, we have many faults and wrong desires. We have to pray to eliminate them, as many as we can, of our bad habits and spend more time in prayer to be able to grasp as many of the gifts of God as we possibly can.
God tells us that we must love Him with our whole heart, soul, all our mind and strength to love our neighbors as ourselves. You can gather from this that God wants all of us at all times and He wants all our love; not only for Him, but our enemies as well. This takes a lot of time to share our love with not only God, but all the people we come in contact with.
When Jesus was about to leave his apostles to go to His Father in heaven, he told them in John 14:16, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you always ~ the Spirit of truth which the world cannot accept because it is neither sees or knows it. But, you know it." Then, in 14:18, "Because I will come to you." Then, in 14:19, "You will see Me because I live and you will live." Then, 20-21, "On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in Me and I in you. Whosoever has My commandments observes them and is the one who loves Me. And, whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him and reveal myself to him. Then in John 14:23, "Whoever loves Me will keep My word and My Father will love him and he will come to him and make Our dwelling with him."
