Open Reflections

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The most attractive face of the Church is holiness

This is what the Holy Father Francis writes, among other, in his most recent Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exultate (Be glad and rejoice).

Holiness is always the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church as well as in the life of each faithful.

It creates a space, so to speak, that allows the full expansion and development of man and woman, and at the same time it favours the conditions for the edification of a peaceful society.

There are well known the witnesses, on the part of the pagan, wondering in praise and amazement at the great love the Christians held for each other, in the early centuries of Christianity.

However, we need not go so far back in history to see that what really continually characterizes our faith is the fraternal love and solidarity shown to all and especially the most needy, poor and unprotected.

How could it be otherwise?

“The questions of our people, their suffering, their struggles, their dreams, their trials and their worries, all possess an interpretational value that we cannot ignore if we want to take the principle of the Incarnation seriously. Their wondering helps us to wonder, their questions question us” (§44).

In other words, the Church never ceases to be guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit. She receives His light at all periods in her history so that she will confront all challenges according to God’s will.

“Grace acts in history; ordinarily it takes hold of us and transforms us progressively” (§50).

Holiness is manifested in the orientation of one’s life,  in his little gestures of love and care, in his sacrifices for the good of others.

Every saint is a message

Every saint is a message which the Holy Spirit takes from the riches of Jesus Christ and gives to his peoplea (§21).

“Life does not have a mission, but is a mission”(§27).

In the words of the French novelist and poet León Bloy, (1846-1917), when all is said and done, “the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint” (§34).

Plenty of food for thought and prayer, then, contained in the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete and exultate (=Be glad and rejoice).

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