WE ARE CALLED TO HOLINESS (BULLETIN ARTICLE) Dear Parishioners, God alone is holy. This means that God is pure uncreated Life, different and separate from creatures. He is God and we are not. Yet, God calls us to holiness. This means that he calls us to share in his Life and to reflect his qualities. This is made possible in Jesus Christ, in whom God gathers us to himself. The Body of Christ, the Church is holy, being God’s Body, and makes her members holy. In the Church, God who made us members of the human family is remaking us members of his own Family. Like Abraham, we are therefore called to leave behind our old unfulfilling lives to embrace a New Life full of blessings and fulfillment in God. Only God can make us holy. He alone is the source of holiness. Jesus, the Son of God, breathes God’s holiness into us through His Body, the Church. He fills us with his breath, the Holy Spirit, to make us come alive with God’s very Life. This is a Gift from God, not a result of our works, but we have a major part to play. We must receive this Gift. Those who accept this offer become members of Christ’s Body where the fullness of God’s Spirit resides and with him the holiness of God. Sharing in Christ empowers us to leave our old and sinful ways behind and grow in the purity and love of God. Our love for one another becomes purified of lower values. We learn to love for the sake of God who lives in our hearts. Our yes to God means leaving our old ways behind and accepting to be reshaped by him in order to be like him. God is building a home with us. He is like a builder who goes into the woods and cuts down trees and reshapes the wood to fit his new house, or excavates stones and reshapes and polishes them to become part of a beautiful home. So God calls us out from the world into his home. The word ‘church’ literally means “called out” Because of God’s work and because holiness is God’s gift to his children, it is not supposed to be difficult. We only need to know him and the other things will follow. If we know him, we immediately realize how much he loves and cares for us every moment. Naturally, we return love for love. Jesus reveals God to us so that we can recognize his immense love for us and fall in love with him. Knowing God is more than an intellectual activity. It is to experience God’s love. It is a marital union, which enables us to live in him and he in us. We become holy by living in God always. The Christian is aware of constantly being in the holy Presence of God everywhere and tries to let this awareness influence everything he does, says, thinks or endures. The natural consequence of this union with God is to serve him in our neighbors, especially the poor and the unattractive. We experience deep peace in our hearts unaffected by whatever situation we are in, and we share this peace with everyone. Finally, I wish to thank all the parishioners of Our Lady of the Valley parish, with whom I have enjoyed belonging together as one family of God. I will be leaving this beautiful community in no distant time to move to the diocese of Savannah, Georgia. Being with you for nearly four years has been a treat to me. I will miss you all. I thank Fr. Peter immensely for being like a father and a big brother to me within these few years of my spiritual journey in this parish. Indeed, it was a period of growth for me. I thank you all immensely and promise to keep you in my prayers always. Let us all answer this most beautiful call to holiness of lives. It is a precious gift from God our loving Father. God bless you all, Fr. Paulinus Okpala Parochial Vicar
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 04:15:41 +0000
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