Formation 2003-2004 – Holiness and Mission

 

 

Pro Sanctity Mission Statement

The Pro Sanctity Movement is a Catholic-based organization dedicated to promoting the universal call to holiness.  It seeks to address the mind with theology, the heart with spirituality, and the hands with ministry.  It is open to all; especially those who wish to deepen their commitment to God and share with others the message of holiness.

 

 

Objective of Issue 3:  To aid in discerning my own special mission(s) in the world as a Christian and as a Pro Sanctity member.

 

 

What Does the Mission of Being a Christian Entail?

“Being a Christian has never been easy, nor is it easy today.  Following Christ demands the courage of radical choices, which often means going against the stream....  In this regard the Jubilee invites everyone to a serious examination of conscience and lasting spiritual renewal for ever more effective missionary activity.... My venerable predecessor, Pope Paul VI, wrote... ‘Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.’... Dear lay faithful, as witnesses to Christ, you are especially called to bring the light of the Gospel to the vital nerve centers of society.  You are called to be prophets of Christian hope and apostles of the One ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!’ (Revelation 1: 4).”

Excerpts from the Homily of Pope John Paul II

The Jubilee of the Apostolate of the Laity – November 26, 2000

 

 

Mission Means to Continue the Work of Redemption in the Footsteps of Jesus

As Christ spent all his life for others, so Christians must assume self-giving and service for their brethren as their norm of life. 

 

Christ was hidden, put in a hole for thirty years.  Jesus lived poverty through the consummation of his public life.  Christ carried on his apostolate by paying with his own flesh, not simply with words, but with poverty and sacrifice.

Bishop Giaquinta – The Maximum Approach of Christ – 1976

 

St. Paul’s Profession of Faith in Mission

“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

Romans 1: 1-6

 

The World Belongs to Those Who Conquer It

“The world does not belong to those who limit themselves to sitting on the sidelines, but to those who conquer it.”

 Bishop Giaquinta – Love is Revolution – Chapter 19

 

The Special Vocation of the Laity

It is the special vocation of the laity to seek the kingdom of God through the temporal affairs in which it is engaged and to direct these affairs according to God’s will. Though all are called to holiness, everyone is called to carry out a different task.  “For as in one body, we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function....” (Romans 12: 4).  The laity has been called by God to live in the world, and because its members are daily engaged in the world’s business, each must seek opportunities to carry the spirit of the Gospel to his or her particular corner of the world for its sanctification.

Documents of Vatican II

Adapted from Lumen Gentium – Chapter IV - # 31

 

Put Out Into Deep Water...

For his Coat of Arms, Bishop William Giaquinta chose the motto, DUC IN ALTUM – PUT OUT INTO DEEP WATER.  It is a motto that explicitly and specifically refers to the life and teaching of Our Lord who invites us to be more and to do more.  It is expressed in his words to Peter, “Put  out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5: 4) as Jesus invites him to move away from the shore where the water is shallow, to not settle for little, but to strive for more.  There, in deep water, Peter trusted the Lord and “caught such a great number of fish that the nets were at the breaking point.” (Luke 5: 6)

Bishop Giaquinta’a Coat of Arms

 

 

For Reflection:

 

1.      Blessed James Alberione, the recently beatified founder of the ten Institutes that make up the Pauline Family, said: “We have to bring the whole man to God.  We cannot make him Christian in mind only, or Christian in feeling alone, or Christian only in prayer and in good works.  It is necessary that he lives in Christ Jesus with his whole being and in his whole being.”

Reprinted in Call to Holiness: New Frontiers in Spirituality for Today’s Religious

 Renato Perino, S.S.P. –  p 42

 

Is spirituality integrated into my life like ‘a seamless garment’?  If it is not, how can Pro Sanctity help me to bring my two worlds together?

 

2.      When I’m afraid to ‘put out into deep water,’ do I pray for grace and strength to do God’s will?

 

3.      In what specific ways can I carry the call to holiness to my place of business? my school? my social activities? my family?

 

4.      Has this Issue helped me to discern my mission as a Christian and as a Pro Sanctity member?  How?