HOLINESS

REL 107: CHRISTIAN VOCATION AND SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

HOLINESS (Meaning)
• Holy – describes what is Divine and pertains to God.
• Holiness – refers to whatever is in relationship with
the Divine.
• A life overflowing with virtue and goodness.
• Being Holy means to participate in the nature of God
through the Holy Spirit.
• To be holy means to live a life of goodness.
Virtue - A behaviour showing high moral
standards.
Cardinal Virtues
• Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our
true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of
achieving it
• Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to
give their due to God and neighbour.
• Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and
constancy in the pursuit of the good.
• Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of
pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods.
Holiness of God
• (In the Old Testament) – God is a JUST and Faithful
God
• Through the prophets (Is 6:3; Hos 11:9b; Is 55:8; Ez
36:23)
• Through His liberating covenant (Is 6:3; Ps 111:9-10)
Holiness of God
• (In the New Testament) – Jesus is an Obedient
Son
• Manifested in Jesus life (Jn 12:28; Jn 17:1-6)
• Manifested in Jesus deeds (CFC 2140-2143)
Sharing God’s Holiness
• (CFC 2145)
• Ethical holiness by living a good life
• A life-long process of conversion
• A challenge to commit ourselves to Christian action,
justice and peace.
• God calls us to share in His “Holy Being” by a life of
grace, offered to everyone by the risen Christ and the
Holy Spirit.
Holiness of Human Beings
• Birth – every human person is born naturally good.
(And God saw everything that he had made, and
behold, it was very good. Gen. 1:31)
Holiness of Human Beings
• In Baptism – Christian Holiness is the person’s
nearness and belongingness to God. This starts at
baptism. (Rom 6:19,22; 1Cor 3:17; 1Pt 1:15)
Holiness of Human Beings
• In the Holy Spirit – The moral life of Christians is
sustained by the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.
• Gifts of the Holy Spirit – these are permanent
dispositions which make man docile in following the
prompting of the Holy Spirit.
• Fruits of the Holy Spirit – these are perfections that
the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal
glory.
1. When and How did you
experience the Holiness of
God in your Life?
2. Give one concrete act of
goodness that you are doing.
• All good works lead to a life of holiness, they are
praises to God, the perfect and the Holy. (LG 11)
• In reality, Charity/Love is the center of holiness. (CFC
1400)
• All the faithful, whatever their conditions and states
are called by the Lord, each in His own way, to that
perfect holiness whereby the Father Himself is
perfect. (LG 11)
• This means that all in the Church are called to
Holiness. (CFC 1399)
• This is our vocation.
Vocation
• Vocation – a universal call to Holiness.
• Vocation – from the Greek word vocare meaning
“to call”.
• A calling from God to a particular state of life in
which one works out his/her salvation.
Human call
• A call is another person reaching out us.
• It is a line of symbol and feelings connecting us
to other people.
• A call of duty and obligation.
• To live life is to call – and to answer the call.
Divine call

•Call of Abraham, Moses and Mary and

others.
•God’s call is to take part in His plan.
•Our basic calling is to be holy.
• To be holy – a universal call to everyone, pursued
in the different states of life one is called to,
which is called one’s vocation in life.
• It is to show the love of God through all the
activities of man and woman.
Christ’s call
• Christ calls us to be His followers and friends.
• To be a follower of Christ is to be a King, Priest
and Prophet.
• Our call is always in accordance to our talents
and gifts.
Different ways to holiness (Mt. 19:12)
• The lay faithful (laity)
• All faithful, except those in Holy Orders and those who
belong to a religious state approved by the Church.
• They seek the kingdom of God by engaging in the temporal
affairs and ordering them according to the plan of God.
• It is in the family, work, and recreation, in the vast fields of
economics, politics, education, health and culture that they
are to evangelize others.
• They are the single blessed and the married people.
Different ways to holiness (Mt. 19:12)
• Religious life/Consecrated life and the clergy
• Evangelical counsels of “chaste dedication to God”.
• The religious sisters (nuns) – active and contemplative.
• The religious brothers (3rd order) – un-ordained ministers (they
exercise responsibility and leadership by serving others.
• They serve as carpenters, university presidents, mechanics, medical
doctors, teachers, technicians, counsellors, and etc.
• They exercise responsibility and leadership
• The priests/clergy – ordained ministers.
The States of Life
Single Blessedness - it is the state of life which is a
response to a call to a life of love.
• They opt not to marry to be able for them to
commit themselves to a particular service,
channeling their gift of sexuality into a positive one,
supporting relationships and apostolic endeavors.
• They consecrate themselves through Christian
witnessing.
Single Blessedness (Single Life)

1. The young adult

•These are young men and women who live
the single life in a temporary basis to give
them time to be ready for the lifetime
commitment of marriage.
Single Life

2. Singlefor the sake of a career

•Some men and women choose to postpone
marriage because they feel the obligations
of marriage and family life would interfere
in their dreams of succeeding in a career.
Single Life
3. The widowed, widower and single parents
• Just as all who are married prepared for
marriage by first living the single life, many
people return to the single life and perhaps may
live as a single adult for more years than they
were married.
Single Life

4.Single for life

•Some people never marry but remain
single all their lives.
Single Blessedness
• The single adult must learn to enhance the
rewarding possibilities of being single, and at the
same time, cope in a responsible way with the
inevitably difficult moments which are part of
going through life as a single adult.
• Loneliness is a challenge for the single adult.
• Freedom is a reward of the single life.
Single Blessedness
• While the single life involves an inevitable amount of
loneliness, it also offers a great amount of freedom that the
single adult can use for personal enrichment and the service
of others.
• Single Blessed men and women need to be chaste.
• The single life is a vocation. As such, it is particularly well
suited for the personal concern with God through prayer and
Christian concern for others, by involvement in the
community and in the local parish.
Performance Task 1
(Interview a single blessed adult)
• Guide questions:
• What made you decide to become single for life?
(Bakit po kayo hindi nag asawa at naging single habang buhay?)
• Are you happy being single? Why?/Why not?
(Paano po ang pagiging single? Masaya po ba?)
• How do you live-out your life as a single person?
(Paano po nyo isinasabuhay ang pagiging single?)
• What advice can you give to the young people today?
B. Marriage
• A sacrament of vocation that celebrates the
union of a man and woman based on their love
and fidelity to each other.
• A calling to a state of life wherein a man and a
woman are now ready to leave a single state of
life and become a couple – one in heart and
aspirations.
C. The Religious/ Consecrated life and the
Clergy/Priesthood
• Religious Life – evangelical counsels of “chaste
dedication to God”.

1. The religious sisters (nuns) (2nd order) – active

and contemplative
The religious sisters (nuns)& brothers Formation
1. Aspirant (Aspirancy)
2. Postulant (Postulancy)
3. Novice (Novitiate)

1. Junior Sister (Temporary Vow)

2. Priest – Diaconate (deacon)
3. Senior Sister (Perpetual Vow)
4. Priest
C. The Religious/ Consecrated life and the
Clergy/Priesthood
2. The religious brothers (3rd order) – un-ordained
ministers who exercise responsibility and leadership by
serving others.
• They serve the community through their skills and
profession.
• They exercise responsibility and leadership.
Priests/clergy
• They are ordained ministers to enable God’s priestly
people to actualize their common priesthood, so that
they may become God’s people.
• They are the servant leaders of the Eucharistic
community.
• They are the representative of Christ and their
primary task is “preaching the Word of God”.
The Spirituality of Priests
• The priests’ spirituality is rooted and centered in
Christ. He has given up home and family in order to
follow Christ. He lives a life of self-denial.
• The priests' spirituality is ministerial. It develops in the
ministry and through ministry.
• Priests’ spirituality must be a collegial spirituality.
They must share in the collegial mission that is the
apostolic ministry.
The Spirituality of Priests
• Priests’ spirituality should also be missionary. They are
ordained for the salvation of the world, thus reaches out to
all.
• Priests’ spirituality must be Eucharistic. They must celebrate
the Eucharist every day because it is the source of their
power and the summit towards which their ministry tend.
• Priests’ spirituality must be lived out in the Evangelical
Counsels of Celibacy, Poverty and Obedience.
Performance Task 2
(Interview a nun or a priest)
• Guide questions:
• What made you decide to become a nun/priest?
(Ano po ang nag-udyok sa inyo na magdesisyong maging madre/pari?)
• Are you happy being a nun/priest? Why?/Why not?
(Paano po ang pagiging madre/pari? Masaya po ba?)
• How do you live-out your life as a nun/priest?
(Paano po nyo isinasabuhay ang pagiging madre/pari?)
• What advice can you give to the young people today?