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39. The Church, whose mystery is being set forth by this Sacred
Synod, is believed to be indefectibly holy. Indeed Christ, the
Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is praised as
"uniquely holy," [331] loved the Church as His bride,
delivering Himself up for her. He did this that He might sanctify
her.[332] He united her to Himself as His own body and brought
it to perfection by the gift of the Holy Spirit for God's glory.
Therefore in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the
hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to holiness, according
to the saying of the Apostle: "For this is the will of God, your
sanctification".[333] However, this holiness of the Church is
unceasingly manifested, and must be manifested, in the fruits of grace
which the Spirit produces in the faithful; it is expressed in many
ways in individuals, who in their walk of life, tend toward the
perfection of charity, thus causing the edification of others; in a
very special way this (holiness) appears in the practice of the
counsels, customarily called "evangelical." This practice of the
counsels, under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit, undertaken by many
Christians, either privately or in a Church-approved condition or
state of life, gives and must give in the world an outstanding witness
and example of this same holiness.
40. The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all
perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His
disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and
consumator of this holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even
as your heavenly Father is perfect".[334][335] Indeed He
sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to
love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their
mind and all their strength[336] and that they might love each
other as Christ loves them.[337] The followers of Christ are
called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own
purpose and grace. They are justified in the Lord Jesus, because in
the baptism of faith they truly become sons of God and sharers in the
divine nature. In this way they are really made holy. Then too, by
God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in their lives this
holiness they have received. They are warned by the Apostle to live
"as becomes saints",[338] and to put on "as God's chosen
ones, holy and beloved a heart of mercy, kindness, humility,
meekness, patience",[339] and to possess the fruit of the
Spirit in holiness.[340] Since truly we all offend in many
things [341] we all need God's mercies continually and we all
must daily pray: "Forgive us our debts"[342][343]
Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of
whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian
life and to the perfection of charity;[344] by this holiness as such
a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In
order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their
strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ.
They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image
seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote
themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of
their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will
grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the
life of so many saints in Church history.
41. The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is
one-that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the
Spirit of God, and who obey the voice of the Father and worship God
the Father in spirit and in truth. These people follow the poor
Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to be worthy of
being sharers in His glory. Every person must walk unhesitatingly
according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path of living
faith, which arouses hope and works through charity.
In the first place, the shepherds of Christ's flock must holily and
eagerly, humbly and courageously carry out their ministry, in
imitation of the eternal high Priest, the Shepherd and Guardian of
our souls. They ought to fulfill this duty in such a way that it will
be the principal means also of their own sanctification. Those chosen
for the fullness of the priesthood are granted the ability of exercising
the perfect duty of pastoral charity by the grace of the sacrament of
Orders. This perfect duty of pastoral charity [345] is exercised
in every form of episcopal care and service, prayer, sacrifice and
preaching. By this same sacramental grace, they are given the courage
necessary to lay down their lives for their sheep, and the ability of
promoting greater holiness in the Church by their daily example,
having become a pattern for their flock.[346]
Priests, who resemble bishops to a certain degree in their
participation of the sacrament of Orders, form the spiritual crown of
the bishops.[347] They participate in the grace of their office and
they should grow daily in their love of God and their neighbor by the
exercise of their office through Christ, the eternal and unique
Mediator. They should preserve the bond of priestly communion, and
they should abound in every spiritual good and thus present to all men a
living witness to God.[348] All this they should do in emulation
of those priests who often, down through the course of the centuries,
left an outstanding example of the holiness of humble and hidden
service. Their praise lives on in the Church of God. By their very
office of praying and offering sacrifice for their own people and the
entire people of God, they should rise to greater holiness. Keeping
in mind what they are doing and imitating what they are
handling,[349] these priests, in their apostolic labors, rather
than being ensnared by perils and hardships, should rather rise to
greater holiness through these perils and hardships. They should ever
nourish and strengthen their action from an abundance of contemplation,
doing all this for the comfort of the entire Church of God. All
priests, and especially those who are called "diocesan priests," due
to the special title of their ordination, should keep continually
before their minds the fact that their faithful loyalty toward and their
generous cooperation with their bishop is of the greatest value in their
growth in holiness.
Ministers of lesser rank are also sharers in the mission and grace of
the Supreme Priest. In the first place among these ministers are
deacons, who, in as much as they are dispensers of Christ's
mysteries and servants of the Church,[350] should keep themselves
free from every vice and stand before men as personifications of
goodness and friends of God.[351] Clerics, who are called by
the Lord and are set aside as His portion in order to prepare
themselves for the various ministerial offices under the watchful eye of
spiritual shepherds, are bound to bring their hearts and minds into
accord with this special election (which is theirs). They will
accomplish this by their constancy in prayer, by their burning love,
and by their unremitting recollection of whatever is true, just and of
good repute. They will accomplish all this for the glory and honor of
God. Besides these already named, there are also laymen, chosen of
God and called by the bishop. These laymen spend themselves
completely in apostolic labors, working the Lord's field with much
success.[352].
Furthermore, married couples and Christian parents should follow
their own proper path (to holiness) by faithful love. They should
sustain one another in grace throughout the entire length of their
lives. They should embue their offspring, lovingly welcomed as
God's gift, with Christian doctrine and the evangelical virtues.
In this manner, they offer all men the example of unwearying and
generous love; in this way they build up the brotherhood of charity;
in so doing, they stand as the witnesses and cooperators in the
fruitfulness of Holy Mother Church; by such lives, they are a sign
and a participation in that very love, with which Christ loved His
Bride and for which He delivered Himself up for her.[353] A
like example, but one given in a different way, is that offered by
widows and single people, who are able to make great contributions
toward holiness and apostolic endeavor in the Church. Finally, those
who engage in labor-and frequently it is of a heavy nature- should
better themselves by their human labors. They should be of aid to
their fellow citizens. They should raise all of society, and even
creation itself, to a better mode of existence. Indeed, they should
imitate by their lively charity, in their joyous hope and by their
voluntary sharing of each others' burdens, the very Christ who plied
His hands with carpenter's tools and Who in union with His Father,
is continually working for the salvation of all men. In this, then,
their daily work they should climb to the heights of holiness and
apostolic activity.
May all those who are weighed down with poverty, infirmity and
sickness, as well as those who must bear various hardships or who
suffer persecution for justice sake-may they all know they are united
with the suffering Christ in a special way for the salvation of the
world. The Lord called them blessed in His Gospel and they are
those whom "the God of all graces, who has called us unto His
eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself, after we have suffered
a little while, perfect, strengthen and establish".[354]
Finally all Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions, duties
and circumstances of their lives-and indeed through all these, will
daily increase in holiness, if they receive all things with faith from
the hand of their heavenly Father and if they cooperate with the divine
will. In this temporal service, they will manifest to all men the
love with which God loved the world.
42. "God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God and
God in Him".[355] But, God pours out his love into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us;[356]
thus the first and most necessary gift is love, by which we love God
above all things and our neighbor because of God. Indeed, in order
that love, as good seed may grow and bring forth fruit in the soul,
each one of the faithful must willingly hear the Word of God and
accept His Will, and must complete what God has begun by their own
actions with the help of God's grace. These actions consist in the
use of the sacraments and in a special way the Eucharist, frequent
participation in the sacred action of the Liturgy, application of
oneself to prayer, self-abnegation, lively fraternal service and the
constant exercise of all the virtues. For charity, as the bond of
perfection and the fullness of the law,[357] rules over all the
means of attaining holiness and gives life to these same
means.[358] It is charity which guides us to our final end. It
is the love of God and the love of one's neighbor which points out the
true disciple of Christ.
Since Jesus, the Son of God, manifested His charity by laying
down His life for us, so too no one has greater love than he who lays
down his life for Christ and His brothers.[359] From the
earliest times, then, some Christians have been called upon-and some
will always be called upon-to give the supreme testimony of this love
to all men, but especially to persecutors. The Church, then,
considers martyrdom as an exceptional gift and as the fullest proof of
love. By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his
Master by freely accepting death for the salvation of the world -as
well as his conformity to Christ in the shedding of his blood. Though
few are presented such an opportunity, nevertheless all must be
prepared to confess Christ before men. They must be prepared to make
this profession of faith even in the midst of persecutions, which will
never be lacking to the Church, in following the way of the cross.
Likewise, the holiness of the Church is fostered in a special way by
the observance of the counsels proposed in the Gospel by Our Lord to
His disciples.[360] An eminent position among these is held by
virginity or the celibate state.[361] This is a precious gift of
divine grace given by the Father to certain souls,[362] whereby
they may devote themselves to God alone the more easily, due to an
undivided heart. [363] This perfect continency, out of desire
for the kingdom of heaven, has always been held in particular honor in
the Church. The reason for this was and is that perfect continency
for the love of God is an incentive to charity, and is certainly a
particular source of spiritual fecundity in the world.
The Church continually keeps before it the warning of the Apostle
which moved the faithful to charity, exhorting them to experience
personally what Christ Jesus had known within Himself. This was the
same Christ Jesus, who "emptied Himself, taking the nature of a
slave . . . becoming obedient to death",[364] and because of
us "being rich, he became poor".[365] Because the disciples
must always offer an imitation of and a testimony to the charity and
humility of Christ, Mother Church rejoices at finding within her
bosom men and women who very closely follow their Saviour who debased
Himself to our comprehension. There are some who, in their freedom
as sons of God, renounce their own wills and take upon themselves the
state of poverty. Still further, some become subject of their own
accord to another man, in the matter of perfection for love of God.
This is beyond the measure of the commandments, but is done in order
to become more fully like the obedient Christ.[366]
Therefore, all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the
holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an
obligation to so strive. Let all then have care that they guide aright
their own deepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the
things of this world nor attachment to riches, which is against the
spirit of evangelical poverty, hinder them in their quest for perfect
love Let them heed the admonition of the Apostle to those who use this
world; let them not come to terms with this world; for this world, as
we see it, is passing away.[367][368]
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