How to be holy?

[therese14]

Hello, I want to ask a question.

St Paul Said that we are called to be saints, he also exhorts us to chase after holiness.

How exactly is this to be done?

Is it:

1. Follow ten commandments?
2. Go to frequent confession?

Is that enough?

How do we become saints?

Saint Paul said: called to be saints.

How to do this exactly?

When I am lying on my bed, and examine my conscience, I found by lying on a bed and doing nothing I do the 10 commandments since the commandments are mostly for us not to do anything negative.

So if I lay on my bed all day, does that make me a saint and holy?

I hope it makes sense.

Thank you

 

[powerofk]

Hello, I want to ask a question.

St Paul Said that we are called to be saints, he also exhorts us to chase after holiness.

How exactly is this to be done?

Is it:

1. Follow ten commandments?
2. Go to frequent confession?

Is that enough?

How do we become saints?

Saint Paul said: called to be saints.

How to do this exactly?

When I am lying on my bed, and examine my conscience, I found by lying on a bed and doing nothing I do the 10 commandments since the commandments are mostly for us not to do anything negative.

So if I lay on my bed all day, does that make me a saint and holy?

I hope it makes sense.

Thank you

My pastor actually mentioned this idea on Holy Thursday. It is impossible for us, as human beings, to make ourselves holy by our own works (the idea that we can is actually the core of the Pelagian heresy). But, see, the thing is - we don’t need to. God has already made us holy through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross and His glorious resurrection! It is God’s grace and love, no more, no less, that makes us holy - and our response to this grace and love is called faith. Of course, faith begets works, which beget more faith. Do not worry about your holiness - let the grace of God that has been poured out on you shine for all the world to see - and you will not only grow in faith, hope, and love for God and neighbor yourself - you will cause others to increase in faith, hope, and love for God and neighbor as well. The way to be a saint is to allow God to serve you - to be your example, as your teacher, as your best friend, as your father, and as the Church’s mystical husband - and then, in turn, to serve God and God’s Church by being the person who God made you to be, by being open to His grace, love, and mercy.

 

[Beryllos]

At least two of the Ten Commandments are positive:
Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.

But more to the point are the Big Two, which are very positive:
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Gospels contain many other ideas on how to be holy: Love one another, forgive many times, love and forgive your enemies, take care of the needy, pray to our Father, trust that God will provide for our needs, let your light shine, have faith, have courage under persecution, be humble, and much more.

 

[therese14]

Thanks, I tried frequent confession and abiding by 10 commandment, but maybe it’s not enough. What more do I lack?

 

[St_Francis]

From what I have read, after frequent reception of the sacraments comes prayer: morning prayer, evening prayer, a daily Rosary, and mental prayer (which needs to be supported by spiritual reading).

BTW, I think lying on your bed all day would be ignoring the parable of the talents

 

[IrishAm]

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, who founded the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840, said something I have posted at my desk –

“What have we to do in order to become saints? Nothing more than we do every day. Only do it for the love of God.”

 

[fhansen]

Hello, I want to ask a question.

St Paul Said that we are called to be saints, he also exhorts us to chase after holiness.

How exactly is this to be done?

Is it:

1. Follow ten commandments?
2. Go to frequent confession?

Is that enough?

How do we become saints?

Saint Paul said: called to be saints.

How to do this exactly?

When I am lying on my bed, and examine my conscience, I found by lying on a bed and doing nothing I do the 10 commandments since the commandments are mostly for us not to do anything negative.

So if I lay on my bed all day, does that make me a saint and holy?

I hope it makes sense.

Thank you

No, holiness is not about strictly avoiding sin/obeying the commandments. Holiness can be summed up with one word: love. Love automatically fulfills the law; to the extent that we love we do not sin, and to the extent that we love our joy and happiness increase. This kind and scale of love is only obtainable to the degree that we commune with God, to the degree that we allow Him to make His home in us. “Apart from Me you can do nothing” John 15:5. To better understand the New Covenant/New Law, with the role of the Law, grace, and love, read this section of the Catechism: scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a1.htm#1985

 

[Bookcat]

How do we become saints?

Saint Paul said: called to be saints.

Important aspect to note:

Saint Paul referred to Christians - as saints.

Christians on earth – who are living “in Christ” – are saints.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 823 :

"The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”

And from Pope Benedict XVI:

“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…”

(and then discussing becoming --more holy --more conformed to Christ he continues…)

“…but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.”

Saint Paul uses the term ‘saint’ in various places to simply refer to Christians. Those living on earth…see his various letters.

“Sometimes, people think that holiness is a privileged condition reserved for the few elect. Actually, becoming holy is every Christian’s task… 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). … 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 1 November 2007

Now over the centuries yes another use of the term saints developed. Saints has been yes used for those who have lived as saints in a heroic way (by the grace of God of course).

And yes later a process of canonization developed to recognize them, honor them and propose them as special models for the Christian faithful in following Christ.

Thus one can say there are saints and also Saints in the canonized sense or at least the recognized sense (they were recognized long before the process of canonization developed…especially Our Lady, the Apostles and Martyrs).

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We are ‘saints’ via faith and baptism - via the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth…via the Holy Spirit…and yes we are to become more and more so.

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So when someone says to me “oh well I am not a saint” say “you better get to confession then” and the explain what I mean …