THE CALL TO HOLINESS

Amid the random and conflicting

events of our lives, individual and
shared, we detect pattern and
purpose. We have this sense that
we are called. Hard put to “prove”
or even clarify this call, we
nonetheless sense the invitation as
we are lured to follow certain paths.
 This Christian instinct about vocation
lead us to imagine God’s presence in
everyday life, drawing us toward certain
life choices. We are led to specific
commitments of love and work. And we
find our vocations confirmed in the
strangest ways: in the detours of a career,
in the fruitfulness of celibacy; in the gift
of a retarded child.
Spirituality presupposes a call or an
invitation from God. (LG 39 reminds us
that the call is for all in the church. The
call is actually an invitation to a
PARTICULAR VISION OF LIFE; the
Christian vision.
LG 39
“ All in the church, - whether they belong
to the hierarchy or are cared for by it are
called to holiness, according to the
apostle’s saying: For this is the will of
God your SANCTIFICATION.”

 
 

When we pray “thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven”, that
WILL-is that we be made HOLY.

to be holy is to become like

GOD.
 holiness is the MOTIVE and RESULT
of the incarnation of Christ. God became a
human being in order that we may share in
God’s life and being.
 
holiness is addressed TO ALL regardless of
one’s state in life, whether shepherd or
member of the flock, it does not depend on
the office or role one has in the church
 What does it mean to be HOLY? If
holiness is the motive and result of the
incarnation of Christ, then Christ is the
way to holiness.

(To be holy is to become like God, and

Jesus Christ is the revelation of God.
So to be holy is to become like Jesus.)
 TO BE HOLY therefore, is TO
HAVE A VISION OF LIFE (VIEW) AND
TO ACT (BEHAVIOR / EXPERIENCE)
IN A CHRISTIAN WAY.

This is what Christian spirituality is

all about that is the call to the Christian,
THE CHRISTIAN VOCATION
A. HOLINESS IN THE VARIETY OF
LIFE

LG 41: The forms and tasks of life are

many but holiness is one.

a) “The form and tasks of life are many”

This involves three things:
Holiness is possible in every form
and task of life, in here and now
 One must faithful and fully perform the
duties demanded by one’s state in life.

Holiness is holistic, every aspect of

one’s life must reflect the fruits of the
experience of God [ the fruit of the
spirit of love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness and self- control (gal.5.22]
 
b. “but holiness is one” Holiness consists
basically of LOVE, love which God has
poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit.

The true disciple of Christ no matter what he

is marked by love of God and neighbor. (LG.
42)
Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D.
Whitehead in their book Seasons of

Strength sees the Christian vocation as:

 Non elitist
 Not a specialty
 A journey in which the believers embarks on
a LIFE JOURNEY TOWARDS GOD
 
 Form and task are many. In our
vocation we are called in different
ways, we are called again and again in
our lifetime.

 Our vocation grows and changes as we

come to a fuller realization of our adult
journey of faith
Vocation requires Faithfulness

Our vocation is like a life-long

CONVERSATION with God….
Marked by “periods of spirited
exchange, time of strain and
argument and intervals of silence.”
 Using such image for vocation
means redefining fidelity as much
more than memory
(remembering the invitation); it requires
that we remain in the conversation
because the conversation continues.
 God reveals ourselves to us in this
relationship. It is through this
relationship (conversation) that we
discover our own religious identity ----
therefore our vocation is “who we are”
trying to happen.
 As any vocation unfolds I create it by my
decision and choices. This is how I live out
my vision of my vocation. I use scripture
and church teaching to guide my decisions
and choices and to remain in conversation
with God.
Holiness is Holistic

The beginning of a vocation is to

discover that there is a “plot” in my life.
I see that things seemed to have
happened for a purpose at that place,
at that time. I sense a connection in my
past and in my future. This is who I am
and what I am for.
B. VOCATION AS A DREAM

A dream is what I want to do when I grow

up. A special feature of a dream is its
idealism.

The woman who wants to be a doctor wants to

be more than just a doctor but a pioneering
neurosurgeon, the writer not merely a writer but an
award winning novelist. A devout young Christian
may dream not just of being good but of being a
martyr or a missionary. We need the idealism of our
dreams to propel us into the complex and confusing
world of adulthood. As we grow into the years our
idealism mellows and our dreams fit us better.
During our twenties, we try out our
dreams and it undergoes testing and
negotiations. Am I up to such a
vision? Do I have the stuff to live
out this vocation? On the outside;
will the world allow me to do this?
Is there a room in the church for
such a dream?
During the critical stage, the dream
may also be lost. My dream, my
vocation abides in my
imagination. Without nurturance
it can wither and disappear. Either
from lack of support or we do not
believe in them ourselves or we can
be confused or frightened , and we
may abandon the dream.
One way of abandoning the dream is to
find someone else who has a strong
sense of purpose, or leader or a religious
congregation, and I join my life to that
dream represented by these persons.
One may also settle to live out the dream
a parent or teacher has for me. It may be
decades later before we realize what
one has done and a reconciliation with
one’s lost dream may be necessary.
Psychological notions of a life’s dream and
Christian convictions concerning vocations:

1. Both my dream and my Christian

vocation are understood by me as the
deepest and best hopes for my life. They
share the same habitat which is the
imagination.
It is always in images that we envision our
dream and our vocation. (Whether they are
realizable of just fantasies will be
determined by time.)
2. Both dreams and vocations are vehicles of
God’s revelations just like in the OT
where our ancestors recognized God in
dreams and visions.

Through our dreams

and visions of our vocation we learn who we
are to be and we are revealed to
ourselves.
3. A vocation differs from a dream
because a vocation is a dream
personalized.

A vocation is more than a dream

because it involves God – God’s
will or mission for me.
C. THE DREAM OF THE KINGDOM

The vocation of Jews and

Christians was inherited from the
promise of Yahweh to Abraham. At
first it was thought to be fulfilled in the
promised land, but later on social
injustice and infidelities to Yahweh
proved that the dream was still to be
fulfilled.
 Prophets were sent to revive the collective
dream of the people and Isaiah re-envisioned
a society wherein ritual sacrifice would be
replaced by care and justice.

Later still when Israel was in exile came the

vision of the Servant of Yahweh, a savior who
will heal and restore their freedom.
 Jesus in the NT, introduces the
“kingdom of God” where the urgency of
personal change and conversion is central.
The kingdom is “already and not yet”. The
signs of the Kingdom are… The blind see
again, the lame walk, leper s are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead
are raised to life, the good news are
proclaimed to the poor…. (lk 7.22)

 
Personal and social change mark
the presence of the kingdom, acts
of justice and love, care for those in
need: our actions contribute to or
frustrate the coming of the
Kingdom of God.
 The CALL TO HOLINESS (our
vocation) involve a dream to be the best
God wills us to be. Every dream and
vocation must be part of the dream of
the Kingdom of God.
 HOLINESS means

TO BE FULLY PART OF THE

REALIZATION OF THE KINGDOM
OF GOD.