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It’s Day 116!!
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
We point out many times that the Church is made up of broken sinners
At the same time…
One of the CLEAR MARKS OF THE CHURCH is that THE CHURCH IS HOLY
The Holy Spirit is the SOUL OF THE CHURCH
Because the Soul comes from the HEART OF THE TRINITY
Because Jesus Christ Himself FOUNDED THE CHURCH
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
Paragraph 823 says, “‘The Church…is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy.”
THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!
THAT IS A REALLY BOLD STATEMENT!!
BUT…
IT IS 100% A TRUE STATEMENT!!
Why?
Paragraph 823 continues, “This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.’”
If there is any reason why we say THE CHURCH IS HOLY it is that
It is because of God’s gracious gift
That’s it 100%
Paragraph 824 says, “United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by [Jesus]; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying.”
We are sanctified by the action of Jesus Christ
We are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit
Through Jesus and with Jesus we are meant to bring that holiness to the world
St. Thérèse of Lisieux has a quote about love
Paragraph 826 says, “Charity (Love) is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it ‘governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification.’”
In this quote are italics and ALL CAPS
It’s kind of intense
Pope Paul VI says in Paragraph 827, “The Church is therefore holy, through having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace.”
If we live the life of the Church then we become sanctified
That’s the whole goal
To become SANCTIFIED and to actually participate with the Lord and through the Lord in SANCTIFYING THE WORLD
So let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, thank you. Thank you for being the source of holiness. Thank you for being you, Lord God. We praise you and we give you thanks, that you are the only thrice Holy God. You are the only one that is Holy, Holy, Holy Lord. So we lift up your name and we praise you this day. And we thank you for the gift of your Church. We thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. We thank you that you have never ever given up on us. And that you have declared you never ever will give up on us. We ask you to please help us to not give up on you. Help us to not stop choosing you. Lord God, we ask you to please send your Holy Spirit in every area of challenge in our lives so that we can face every challenge with your strength. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there we have it!!
INCREDIBLE!!
Paragraph 823 says, “‘The Church…is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy.”
Why?
Not because of HERSELF
Not because of US
THE CHURCH IS HOLY because of God
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
God ALONE is holy
Paragraph 823 continues, “Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride…”
Remember Ephesians Ch 5?
Jesus loved the Church and poured Himself out for her and gave Himself up for her so as to present Her to Himself without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing
That’s the gift here
That’s the goal here
That’s the heart of what we are talking about here
God is the one who makes the Church HOLY
Paragraph 824 says, “United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying.”
If you ever wonder what does the Church do?
What are all the works of the Church oriented towards?
Paragraph 824 continues, “‘All the activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God.’”
Think about that…
The sanctification of human beings in Christ, the salvation of the world
The glorification of God
If you ever wondered what the point of the Mass is
You know the point of the Mass
The point of the Mass is stated in the middle of every single Mass
The Priest says, “Pray, my brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.”
And what do we say?
“May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His Holy Church.”
THAT IS THE POINT!!
FOR THE PRAISE AND GLORY OF THE FATHER’S NAME THAT GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED!!
FOR THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD!!
THIS IS THE ENTIRE POINT!!
Why does the Church exist?
First to sanctify Her members
That Jesus Christ may present to Himself His Bride
And also that through the Church the Father will be GLORIFIED and the world will be SANCTIFIED
IT IS AMAZING!!
Paragraph 825 says, “‘The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect.’”
It is the call to KEEP ON GOING and continually and constantly REPENT
Paragraph 827 says, “All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners.’”
Why?
Paragraph 827 says, “The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal.’”
Remember the Gospel parable where the master of the field plants wheat and at night the enemy plants weeds?
When the weeds and the wheat grow together the harvesters ask if they should pull up the weeds
The master of the field tells them not to because if they pull up the weeds they will pull up the wheat too, so let them grow together
At the end, they will be separated
BUT…
We are not at the end yet
There is GREAT WHEAT that the Lord God Himself has planted
Remember the cause of DIVISION?
IT IS SIN!!
The Enemy has planted WEEDS which we find in our own hearts as well
So we ask the Lord to continue to purify us
Because the heart is the heart
Paragraph 826 says, “Love is the soul of the holiness to which all are called…”
If you know anything about St. Thérèse of Lisieux, she wrote THE STORY OF A SOUL
She was trying to discern her vocation even though she was a religious sister already
She wondered where she fit in the Body of Christ
She wanted to serve in any way possible
Missionary
Priest
BUT…
Those ways were not open to her
So as she continued to pray she realized something
Paragraph 826 says, “If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn’t lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart BURNING WITH LOVE.”
THIS IS THE KEY!!
We can look at the different roles in the Church
This role is important and this role is less important
This role is glorious and this role is not glorious
AND YET…
St. Thérèse discovered the core
Remember what St. Paul said
“If I can speak in words of tongues of men and angels but don’t have love, I am nothing.”
etc etc etc
St. Thérèse recognized what she wanted to be
She wanted to be THE HEART BURNING WITH LOVE
Because without the heart
(SQUIRREL!! 😉)
This is where every one of us is called to live
Because so many of us do “check the box” Christianity
We’re doing the things and pressing play every day and that is great and we need to continue to press play
BUT…
The HEART of this is LOVE
Paragraph 826 continues, “And I realized that his love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT’S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND SPACE-IT’S ETERNAL!’”
That sometimes happens for priests, bishops, deacons etc
They forget to preach the Gospel
BUT…
If we forget the love of Jesus
If we forget that we are called to BE THE HEART
It’s not even a matter of REJECTING the call
WE FORGET THE CALL!!
WE FORGET TO PREACH JESUS!!
WE FORGET TO PREACH THE GOSPEL!!
BECAUSE WE HAVE LOST THAT LOVE!!
If the heart of Jesus is inside of us
If the love of God is inside our heart
THEN MARTYRS WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST!!
SAINTS WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST!!
Paragraph 828 says, “‘The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history.’”
Saints are not saints because they did tough things or great things
Saints are saints because they LOVED AND DID WHAT GOD ASKED OF THEM
They had heroic virtue
They lived in that Holy Spirit of HOLINESS
At the end, we will be judged and we know this already
St. John of the Cross said, “In the twilight of life we will be judged on love alone.”
There is a lot packed into that
Love is NOT just an emotion, feeling, or affection
Love has to be EFFECTIVE
It has to MOVE US to do the WORKS OF LOVE
To love God with EVERYTHING WE HAVE
To love our neighbor AS OURSELVES
BUT…
IN THE TWILIGHT OF OUR LIVES WE WILL BE JUDGED ON LOVE ALONE
That’s why it is so powerful that THE CHURCH IS HOLY
Her source is the Trinity
Her founder is Jesus Christ
Her soul is the Holy Spirit
We have to continue to CHOOSE to be holy
We get to CHOOSE to say Yes to the Lord
Say YES to His Grace
Say YES to the Holy Spirit
Say YES to LOVE
TO BE LOVE!!
TO BE THE HEART!!
The Church is ONE
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
SO BE HOLY!!
IN THE TWILIGHT OF OUR LIVES WE WILL BE JUDGED ON LOVE ALONE
We don’t love like we should
So please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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