Thursday, May 14, 2009

1Pet 1, 14-15 Be holy in every aspect of your conduct

(1Pet 1, 14-15) Be holy in every aspect of your conduct
[14] Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance [15] but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
(CCC 957) Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself" (LG 50; cf. Eph 4:1-6): We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples! (Martyrium Polycarpi, 17: Apostolic Fathers II/3, 396). (CCC 956) The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.... [T]hey do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped" (LG 49; cf. 1 Tim 2:5). Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life (St. Dominic, dying, to his brothers). I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth (St. Therese of Lisieux, The Final Conversations, tr. John Clarke, Washington: ICS, 1977, 102).

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