Dr. Omena Bernard OJUEDERIE

omenabernojus@gmail.com

 

 

We are all called to a life of holiness in the midst of the world; you must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). The call to perfection is not for a select few, Bishops, priests and religious, but for everyone. When Our Lord said you must be perfect, he was not speaking to the apostles alone, but to everyone present, Jews, gentiles, Sadducees and Pharisees. Sanctity or holiness in the world highlights the idea that ordinary work, family life, and social interactions can be ways for spiritual growth and union with God. 

We are told in the Gospels that Christ did all things well, therefore as faithful followers of Christ we have to follow his example of work well done in our daily lives. You may ask, is sanctity possible in today’s world with all the evil we see around us in a world that appears to be coming to an end? The answer is yes, a life of holiness is still possible even in the midst of the difficulties and trials of life because the grace of God is sufficient for us. All we need to do is to be docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, the sanctifier of our souls, and correspond to the grace of God.

Everyone whether married or single, young or old, male or female, ought to strive for holiness wherever they are; in the classroom, University, office, recreation club, market or even at home. A house wife, who takes proper care of the home, a lecturer who prepares his lecture notes well and is punctual for his classes or a university student who takes his or her academic work seriously, are surely on the  path to sanctity. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Prelature of Opus Dei founded by St Josemaria Escriva on October 2nd 1928. His feast day was recently celebrated on the 26th of June.

Sanctity is not for a few but for everyone. Despite the evil we see in society today due to the wickedness of man, we are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Christianity is indeed not an easy way of life and Our Lord never promised us that by being a Christian we will be free from pain, suffering and persecution. It isn’t an easy way but one that leads to our final destination.

Sanctity is a matter of love. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends. This is what Christ did, because of the love he has for us; he gave up his own life freely on the cross.  When we truly love Christ who is present in the Holy Eucharist together with his body, blood, soul and divinity, we would be able to love our neighbours and carry out our daily work with full attention and love. All Christians, no matter what state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian faith and to the perfection of love; for this is the will of God, your sanctification (1Thess 4:3). Sanctity requires a daily fight against conformity, against lukewarmness, against an easy-going worldly attitude to life. It requires heroism in the daily activities of the day, doing the ordinary things in an extraordinary way, through continual fidelity to our daily duties done with love and for the glory of God.

There is a lack of saints in our days, simply because we have allowed the worries and cares of the world to overshadow our minds and shield our eyes. There is so much distraction but we need to remain focused and remember the reason for our existence, to know, love and serve God and be with him forever in Heaven. Our Lord surely is not happy with a lukewarm life and a half-hearted dedication.

 We ought to take our Christian life seriously by finding Christ in the ordinary things we do each day. There is a lot of corruption and moral decadence in our country Nigeria, but we can put an end to this if we all become living Gospels wherever we find ourselves, living a unity of life. People would then be able to say of us; truly that person is a Christian, an apostle of Christ. Mother Theresa of Calcutta was known as the saint of the gutters while still on earth because of her love for the poor in whom she found Christ and her heroic search for sanctity. During his pontificate, St John Paul II canonized several lay faithful including men, women and children to show that sanctity is not reserved for the hierarchy of the Church or the religious but for everyone, married or single, young or old, learned, or unlearned.

The fruits of sanctity Our Lord is asking of us are those produced in and from the environment in which we find ourselves, here and now: tiredness, sickness, family, the job, one’s colleagues, one’s fellow students’ e.t.c. (Conversation with St Josemaria Escriva). God calls people to holiness in every circumstance; in war and in peace, in sickness and in health, in good times and in time of trials. All circumstances are good to help us grow in holiness and carry out a fruitful apostolate. 

In order to achieve this, we need to take into consideration acquiring the human virtues and having a life of personal prayer. The path that leads to holiness is the path of prayer: and prayer ought to take root and grow in the soul little by little, like the tiny seed which later develops into a tree with many branches (St Josemaria Escriva).

On our own, we cannot attain sanctity without the grace of God which we receive through the sacraments. How often do we visit Our Lord truly present in the Blessed Sacrament? In most parishes the altar of perpetual adoration is available. Our Lord awaits us there to spend time with him, to chat with him about our life and to assist us in improving our interior life. The more we receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist in the state of grace, the more we receive graces to struggle on the path of sanctity, without Christ we surely will not have life in us. It is also necessary for us to deepen our life of prayer and devotion to our blessed mother Mary.

When we carry out our daily task, whatever it is, we should begin and end it with God, doing everything for the glory of God. We need to sanctify our work, sanctify ourselves through our work and sanctify others through our work. This is still possible and achievable in a country where corruption is rampart and people cut corners to earn a living through yahoo yahoo or yahoo plus which is becoming rampart among the youths.

Working hard to earn ones income is becoming irrelevant to some youths. In order to follow Christ on the path to sanctity in the middle of the world, we should be ready to deny ourselves and go through the difficulties and trials of this life quietly and calmly, he who does not take up his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me (Matt 10:38).

The human virtue of chastity is very important for one who is striving for holiness especially now that we are being bombarded from all angles by immoral movies, songs and pornographic pictures and websites on the internet, gay unions, lesbianism, transgender etc. Our approach to chastity must be healthy and positive, and expressed in modest and clear language. To discuss purity is really to talk about love.  The virtue of chastity is simply to say yes to Christ’s love, with an affection that is clear, ardent and properly ordered. (St Josemaria). 

The apostle St Paul reminds us “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6: 15, 19-20). Chastity depends on the heart as its source but it is concerned with the body as its matter; and therefore it may be lost by all exterior senses of the body and by the thoughts and desires of the heart. We should strive to keep ourselves close to Christ crucified, both spiritually by meditation, and really by Holy Communion; for just as those who take their rest upon the herb called agnus castus become chaste and modest, so you also, resting your heart upon our Lord who is the true Lamp chaste and immaculate, will soon find your soul purified from all defilements and impurities. (St Francis De Sales).

Sanctity in the midst of our daily activities should not be regarded as unattainable, but as attainable with the grace of God. We have all the means to achieve this goal in the Catholic Church; it is left for each and everyone to take up the challenge to strive for sanctity despite the trials and temptations we may encounter on the way, so that like St Paul we could proudly say we have fought the good fight and what is left for us is to be given the crown of righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.