Seeking holiness is the key to discerning God’s will for us

 

Father Romeo Salinas is Vocations Director
for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

 

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Seeking holiness is the key to discerning God’s will for us; to discovering the road in life the Lord has planned for us—our vocation; and to achieving and remaining in a state of grace, which allows us to do the will of God with joy, great peace and contentment. We all share the duty to help one another seek holiness.

One might ask, “How can we do this?” The answer is so wonderfully simple. We help others find this gift of holiness, the ability and willingness to do God’s will, by allowing God’s love to enter our hearts. We want to love with God’s love not human love.

When we help others reach a state of grace, to model the behavior that our Lord has taught us and bring conversion and open hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, then we are ready to hear Jesus share with us our vocation whether it be marriage, the religious life, priesthood or the single life. All vocations call us to follow God’s will and do his work in our daily lives.

Parents, priests, parishioners, youth and the elderly are all important in this quest for holiness. They can be positive influences in teaching others how to find holiness. They can teach us to pray with the heart; to ask the angels and saints for assistance; to consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and to pray without ceasing.

Five basic practices put us on the path to holiness. These include: prayer, specially the rosary; the Eucharist, Mass and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar; reading the Bible; receiving the sacrament of penance; and fasting and making little sacrifices to make our prayers stronger.

Prayer and the rosary
Prayer is the means by which we obtain the gift of peace from God. Prayer gives us a sense of intimacy with the Lord and with the Blessed Mother. The rosary gives us signal graces; brings about miracles in the world and in our own lives; causes good works to flourish; obtains for us the abundant mercy of God; and draws us away from worldly things to the desire of eternal things.

Though we may not always have the time to pray a rosary, there are so many short prayers of the saints that bring us great strength. St. Therese of Lisieux’s life can be made into a prayer, “I will do God’s will and be what he wants me to be.” The Fatima Sacrifice Prayer, “Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” St. Teresa of Calcutta recommended that when stressed, one could pray, “Mary, Mother of God, please be a mother to me now.” St. Faustina’s prayerful words from the Chaplet of Mercy, “Jesus, I trust in you.”  Many of us may also start each day with the plea, “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.”

We must do as St. Augustine reminds us: “Work as if everything depended on you, and pray as if everything depended on God.”

Eucharist, Mass and Adoration
Because we are truly in the presence of God during the Mass, it is a union of heaven and earth.  We need to live and experience the holy Mass and open our hearts to receive with great joy the graces that Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar bring.

St. John Chrysostom held that, “When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.” St. Augustine followed this sentiment closely when he affirmed “the angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.” St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina confirmed that there is no greater prayer than the holy Mass, declaring that, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without holy Mass.”

Reading the Bible
When studied diligently, the Bible provides answers to questions about life.  It is God’s word. It feeds us. It is good for the family to pray and read the Bible together in the community of their home, for it mirrors the community of the Church.  One can read a few verses of the Bible in the morning, and then live those verses throughout the day. The Holy Spirit will guide whoever reads sacred Scripture regularly.

Receiving the sacrament of penance monthly
Just as those who suffered the ravages of Hurricane Harvey must physically clean or even rebuild their damaged homes; the sacrament of confession helps us to spiritually clean and purify our hearts and to begin anew. Jesus said to St. Faustina that “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in my mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of my grace upon your soul.  When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you.”

Fasting and making little sacrifices
Fasting is the intentional absence of food for a period of time. When we fast, we are willingly denying ourselves sustenance that gives life.  By fasting, we are making a sacrifice and offering it to God.  By combining prayer and fasting, we increase the efficacy of our prayers. Prayer and fasting allow us to put God in the first place in our lives; help us remain in a state of grace; and help us along the path to holiness.

The things of the world are temporary; they fade and are gone; but conversion and salvation last forever. Seeking holiness puts us on the road to conversion and salvation by helping us achieve a state of grace, which in turn, helps us discover our vocation and embrace that vocation with joy, cooperativeness and oneness with God. As Venerable Mother Julia Navarette would always say, “Lo que quiere Dios, yo lo quiero.” (What God wants, I want.)