Religious Catechists of Mary
Sta. Isabel, Malolos, Bulacan
Readings for Reflection
November 19, 2006
Christian Vocation to Holiness
Our Christian vocation in the first place is a call to salvation in Christ we first received in baptism. We fulfill our Christian vocation only through a dynamic mutual self-giving of God to us and ourselves to God.[1] To habitually practice these self-giving acts highlights our Christian vocation whilst we are still in the world. As we live in a pluralistic society, following our Christian vocation to holiness is difficult but not an impossible task.[2] To be “holy” means to integrate one’s life into Christ’s identity, his teachings, his deeds and his example of obedience to the Father. To be “holy” in this sense is a challenging journey, for it should reflect concretely in one’s integral values in life, one’s behaviour and one’s sense of purpose in life. So what really is our Christian vocation in this modern world? What is it that we, as Christians, can offer to the whole of humanity, even to non believers?
The bishops at the Second Vatican Council with their statement in Optatam Totius declare what Christians should be in today’s world: “they should draw more fully on the teaching of holy Scripture and should throw light upon the exalted vocation of all the faithful in Christ and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world.”[3] The notion of “throwing light” and “sharing the fruit” of salvation as our “vocation in Christ” speaks of what Christians—whether married, single, religious or ordained—are called primarily, as mentioned earlier, to be, namely, followers of the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ. Our lives and deeds cannot share light or become fruitful to others, if we are not attached to Jesus Christ, who significantly is the source and basis of Christian holiness.
Our faith in Christ must contribute significantly to the way we act and live, the way we fashion our minds and thoughts, including the way we interpret certain moral issues in life most especially concerning the dignity of human persons. Before we can be ‘light’ and ‘fruitful’ to others, and thus ‘holy,’ we must first present our human response to God’s invitation and express our response with various issues in life and in the way we relate and live with other people. Therefore, our response to the twofold challenge made by the Council Fathers, we must first of all consider seriously the richness of the reality and dynamism of our Christian faith, and secondly, we have to take on freely the obligation inherent to our faith to live humanly in a way in which we bring about the kingdom of God in our world.[4]
To live the fullness of our Christian vocation can bring the whole of humanity into communion with God, which is itself given in the grace of the Spirit of God promised in Christ.[5] In the same Spirit we are able to change our hearts, to change the world and to bring God’s kingdom to human community. Our response to participate in the call of Christ to holiness allows us to find our human completion and understand that we are called not to selfishness but rather to lay down our lives for our neighbours[6], keeping in mind the words of Christ, “I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full.”[7]
To sum up, Jesus Christ is the model of morality in all circumstances of our lives. His life, death and resurrection form the unity of morality and faith which brings us to live our Christian vocation to holiness, accomplishes our salvation, enables us to attain human completion and finds our communion with God.
Jesus, Our Only Life
Christ himself is our guide to Christian living; he is the model and norm of the way we behave, make decisions, interact with other people and relate with God, who is our salvation. Our response to imitate Christ makes us his true disciples in our time. Following Christ is an absolutely essential condition for us to live as authentic Christians and our effort to follow our Christian vocation to holiness and moral living cannot be separated from the caption “Jesus, our only life.” In a more concrete manner, to call upon Christ as our “only life” is to realize not only our external relationship with him but moreover our internal transformation and personal communion with the Holy Trinity.
The quest for authentic Christian living tends to draw ourselves more closely to Christ’s teaching and example in every circumstance of our life. Our Christian faith and life require attention to the goal and reality of the love of God to us, through Jesus Christ. We must acknowledge deep within our hearts the context of God’s self-giving to humankind because we are all called to share our life and bear fruit as we are called to participate in the life and death of his Son. While still on earth, Jesus Christ lives faithfully and obediently to God even to the extent of suffering. As St. Paul writes to the church community at Philippi, Christ humbles himself “even to accepting death, death on the cross.”[8] We cannot be true followers of Christ without sharing our lives for other even in the midst of suffering and death. A disciple without a cross cannot be a true disciple because Christ himself says, “carry your cross and follow me.”
Again and again we say to ourselves that it is our following of Christ’s example and deeds, his human understanding, love and compassion to humanity, that is the path that leads towards the fullness of Christian living. For this simply, but radically, is our life as Christians. Jesus lived and died for others and so we are called to live and die for others as well—indeed for the whole human community. It is in this way we can view the dynamism of Christian morality and spirituality within a community of God’s people. In the end, it is sharing in the life of God that is the very core and existential meaning of human life, of goodness, and of holiness – and thus of Christian living.
Fr. John Joel E. Vergara
Our Christian vocation in the first place is a call to salvation in Christ we first received in baptism. We fulfill our Christian vocation only through a dynamic mutual self-giving of God to us and ourselves to God.[1] To habitually practice these self-giving acts highlights our Christian vocation whilst we are still in the world. As we live in a pluralistic society, following our Christian vocation to holiness is difficult but not an impossible task.[2] To be “holy” means to integrate one’s life into Christ’s identity, his teachings, his deeds and his example of obedience to the Father. To be “holy” in this sense is a challenging journey, for it should reflect concretely in one’s integral values in life, one’s behaviour and one’s sense of purpose in life. So what really is our Christian vocation in this modern world? What is it that we, as Christians, can offer to the whole of humanity, even to non believers?
The bishops at the Second Vatican Council with their statement in Optatam Totius declare what Christians should be in today’s world: “they should draw more fully on the teaching of holy Scripture and should throw light upon the exalted vocation of all the faithful in Christ and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world.”[3] The notion of “throwing light” and “sharing the fruit” of salvation as our “vocation in Christ” speaks of what Christians—whether married, single, religious or ordained—are called primarily, as mentioned earlier, to be, namely, followers of the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ. Our lives and deeds cannot share light or become fruitful to others, if we are not attached to Jesus Christ, who significantly is the source and basis of Christian holiness.
Our faith in Christ must contribute significantly to the way we act and live, the way we fashion our minds and thoughts, including the way we interpret certain moral issues in life most especially concerning the dignity of human persons. Before we can be ‘light’ and ‘fruitful’ to others, and thus ‘holy,’ we must first present our human response to God’s invitation and express our response with various issues in life and in the way we relate and live with other people. Therefore, our response to the twofold challenge made by the Council Fathers, we must first of all consider seriously the richness of the reality and dynamism of our Christian faith, and secondly, we have to take on freely the obligation inherent to our faith to live humanly in a way in which we bring about the kingdom of God in our world.[4]
To live the fullness of our Christian vocation can bring the whole of humanity into communion with God, which is itself given in the grace of the Spirit of God promised in Christ.[5] In the same Spirit we are able to change our hearts, to change the world and to bring God’s kingdom to human community. Our response to participate in the call of Christ to holiness allows us to find our human completion and understand that we are called not to selfishness but rather to lay down our lives for our neighbours[6], keeping in mind the words of Christ, “I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full.”[7]
To sum up, Jesus Christ is the model of morality in all circumstances of our lives. His life, death and resurrection form the unity of morality and faith which brings us to live our Christian vocation to holiness, accomplishes our salvation, enables us to attain human completion and finds our communion with God.
Jesus, Our Only Life
Christ himself is our guide to Christian living; he is the model and norm of the way we behave, make decisions, interact with other people and relate with God, who is our salvation. Our response to imitate Christ makes us his true disciples in our time. Following Christ is an absolutely essential condition for us to live as authentic Christians and our effort to follow our Christian vocation to holiness and moral living cannot be separated from the caption “Jesus, our only life.” In a more concrete manner, to call upon Christ as our “only life” is to realize not only our external relationship with him but moreover our internal transformation and personal communion with the Holy Trinity.
The quest for authentic Christian living tends to draw ourselves more closely to Christ’s teaching and example in every circumstance of our life. Our Christian faith and life require attention to the goal and reality of the love of God to us, through Jesus Christ. We must acknowledge deep within our hearts the context of God’s self-giving to humankind because we are all called to share our life and bear fruit as we are called to participate in the life and death of his Son. While still on earth, Jesus Christ lives faithfully and obediently to God even to the extent of suffering. As St. Paul writes to the church community at Philippi, Christ humbles himself “even to accepting death, death on the cross.”[8] We cannot be true followers of Christ without sharing our lives for other even in the midst of suffering and death. A disciple without a cross cannot be a true disciple because Christ himself says, “carry your cross and follow me.”
Again and again we say to ourselves that it is our following of Christ’s example and deeds, his human understanding, love and compassion to humanity, that is the path that leads towards the fullness of Christian living. For this simply, but radically, is our life as Christians. Jesus lived and died for others and so we are called to live and die for others as well—indeed for the whole human community. It is in this way we can view the dynamism of Christian morality and spirituality within a community of God’s people. In the end, it is sharing in the life of God that is the very core and existential meaning of human life, of goodness, and of holiness – and thus of Christian living.
Fr. John Joel E. Vergara
[1] Joseph Fuchs S.J., Personal Responsibilty and Christian Morality (Georgetown: University Press & Washington D.C. & Gill and Macmillan, 1983) 21.
[2] Moral theologian, Terence Kennedy mentions in his book Doers of the Word that the Church is in difficult position, most especially in deeply secularized societies such as in Europe, North America, Australasia and parts of developed countries in Asia where the Church is being stereotyped as an enemy of freedom and secular autonomous ethics. Terence Kennedy C.Ss.R., Doers of the Word (Missouri: Triumph Books, 1996) 47-48.
[3] Optatam Totius paragraph 16.
[4] Frances Baker. “Christian Moral Life: Expression of Life in Communion with God,” Australasian Catholic Record (July 1999) 317.
[5] ibid.
[6] 1 Jn 3:16.
[7] Jn 10:10.
[8] Phil 2:8.
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