Called...to be a saint?

jmjconder · #1 Sep 25, '11, 3:33 am

The question is not ARE you called - however how are you answering the call?

I know I am called to be a saint - however I also know all too well of my sinfulness. So the full question is:

How are you living now to be a saint in eternity?

AlanFromWichita · #2 Sep 25, '11, 4:26 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmjconder

The question is not ARE you called - however how are you answering the call?

I know I am called to be a saint - however I also know all too well of my sinfulness. So the full question is:

How are you living now to be a saint in eternity?

I don't think Jesus came here to make us spiritual beings. We are created as spiritual beings and couldn't make that not the case if we tried. Jesus came here to show us how to be fully human and still right by God.

Our kids have all attended All Saints School. I use to say that means them too, for it isn't "All Canonized Saints School."

One thing that has helped me want to be more like Jesus, is to challenge myself to see God in others, no matter how much I despise them or how well I do or do not know them. Think annoying neighbor through world-infamous villains, and even our own selves.

Another is to recognize that while I am human, there really is no way to determine at any given moment, whether my "true" motivations for doing something good are selfish or selfless. I may want to do something that both helps others and feeds my ego or gets me a reward. Preferably it can be designed as not letting on to it, so as to not let the "left hand know what the right hand is doing." But no longer can satan keep me from doing good by making me feel guilty about doing what is right, or fearful I will be condemned for acting with selfish motives. Now I do what I know is right without second-guessing why.

Last week I had to help my mother make a number of decisions that directly and profoundly affected the welfare of my own family, against that of my recently late brother's. At some point I sent Mom's lawyer and email saying she trusts me too much to advise her and I can't stop operating out of fear playing against guilt -- I needed his personal opinion and guidance in addition to his professional opinion on one particular provision in the event certain people die in certain orders. A wonderful, godly man, he said that the Lord does not give us a spirit of fear, and came through with something that he thought was not only fair, but would hold up in court without need for defense.

I realized that I really need to decide at any given moment, whether the Holy Spirit has things under control or not. In times I feel strong in faith, I know that both good and bad can and will help me grow and work for God's benefit. This has given me trust, leading to peace that is unconditional like Christ, but not the world, can give us. In times of weak faith I know this is true in my mind if not my pathetic heart, so it helps me to know that these things, too, shall pass.

Rom 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,* Father!”

Finally, I tried something new this Lent. Usually I keep my Lenten penance to myself, but this time I wanted to do something big, and to announce it to others so I may have a social stake on following through. It could have been for any combination of reasons from truly caring about others through self-aggrandizement, but it changed me. I tried to fast from my desire to be right on things all the time.

Alan

**JRKH** · #3 Sep 25, '11, 7:27 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmjconder

The question is not ARE you called - however how are you answering the call?

I know I am called to be a saint - however I also know all too well of my sinfulness. So the full question is:

How are you living now to be a saint in eternity?

At present my life is somewhat monastic in a way. As full time caregiver to my wife, my church and social contacts are quite limited. This has advantages and drawbacks. The advantage is it gives a lot of time for reflection, prayer and contemplation, and reading. The disadvantage is that I am not "tested" in ways that others are who are more fully engaged in the world on a daily basis.

That said, the advantage of my situation is it allows an opportunity to work on true internal change. To the building up of the spirit in Love which I endeavor to express through the care I give my wife and which I show to the world when we are able to get out and about.

Peace
James

AlanFromWichita · #4 Sep 25, '11, 7:34 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRKH

At present my life is somewhat monastic in a way. As full time caregiver to my wife, my church and social contacts are quite limited. This has advantages and drawbacks. The advantage is it gives a lot of time for reflection, prayer and contemplation, and reading. The disadvantage is that I am not "tested" in ways that others are who are more fully engaged in the world on a daily basis.

That said, the advantage of my situation is it allows an opportunity to work on true internal change. To the building up of the spirit in Love which I endeavor to express through the care I give my wife and which I show to the world when we are able to get out and about.

Peace
James

Right now I am full-time caregiver to my mother, until we can move her to Wichita into a retirement village. It seems I am "tested" in brand new ways, although it is much more satisfying than some of the tests the rest of the world would have given us. I think it's wonderful you are able to do that for her.

Alan

**JRKH** · #5 Sep 25, '11, 8:19 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanFromWichita

Right now I am full-time caregiver to my mother, until we can move her to Wichita into a retirement village. It seems I am "tested" in brand new ways, although it is much more satisfying than some of the tests the rest of the world would have given us. I think it's wonderful you are able to do that for her.

Alan

Amen - Care-giving to a Loved one is challenging and indeed the tests are unique.
There are many - many lessons to be learned from such.

Peace
James

**Bookcat** · #6 Sep 25, '11, 10:43 am

"At the beginning of Christianity, the members of the Church were also called "saints". In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul addresses "those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor 1: 2). Indeed, Christians are already saints because Baptism unites them to Jesus and to his Paschal Mystery, but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him. Sometimes, people think that holiness is a privileged condition reserved for the few elect. Actually, becoming holy is every Christian's task, indeed, we could say, every person's! The Apostle writes that God has always blessed us and has chosen us in Christ "that we should be holy and blameless before him... in love" (Eph 1: 3-5). All human beings are therefore called to holiness, which ultimately consists in living as children of God, in that "likeness" with him in accordance with which they were created. All human beings are children of God and all must become what they are by means of the demanding process of freedom. God invites everyone to belong to his holy people. The "Way" is Christ, the Son, the Holy One of God: "no one comes to the Father but by me [Jesus]" (cf. Jn 14: 6). "

Pope Benedict XVI

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/be...saints_en.html