The
Universal Call to Holiness is the way the Church expresses the exhortation made
to all Christians by Christ to "be perfect as our Father in heaven is
perfect." (Matthew 5:48) There are 4 articles on the handouts page
(you were likely given two in class as well). You must read the articles
and write a 500-700 word response to the following prompt on your blog.
Msgr. Luigi
Giussani states: "[T.S. Eliot] asked himself "Has the Church failed
mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?" . . . Both, both, because
first and foremost it is mankind who failed the Church, because if I need
something, I chase after it if it goes away. No one chased after it . . . The
Church began to fail mankind, as I see it . . . because she forgot who Christ
was, she did not rely on..., she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who Christ
is."(Interview, 2004)
What does it mean to
say, "if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away"?
How does this relate to the "Universal Call to Holiness"?
What do you think this quote implies for the everyday Catholic?
What do you think it means to "say who Christ is" without
shame?
Msgr. Luigi Giussani states: "[T.S. Eliot] asked himself "Has
the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?" . . . Both,
both, because first and foremost it is mankind who failed the Church, because
if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away. No one chased after it .
. . The Church began to fail mankind, as I see it . . . because she forgot who
Christ was, she did not rely on..., she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who
Christ is"(Interview, 2004). What
does it mean to say, “if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away”?
It means that no matter what I will do what it takes to get that something even
it means that I must give everything up in my life just to do so.
This relates to the “Universal Call
to Holiness” because as a Catholic we are called to be devout in our faith. We
are called to have a close relationship with God. We are supposed to make him
number one in our lives. We are supposed to go to church every Sunday, pray
every day and thank him for everything we have in our lives because it wasn’t
for him we would not be alive today. But at times society likes to dictate what
followers of Christ can do and that sometimes taints one’s universal call to
holiness putting them on a path of destruction.
This quote implies for the everyday
Catholic that the Church has become a little ashamed of its faith and that as
Catholic in today’s society we should not hide our faith. We should display our
faith for everyone to see because God is good and that is what he would want us
to do. He wants us to spread the good news of the Bible to everyone. Even the
Church sometimes loses its true vision and veers away from the path that God
wants us to follow. The world has corrupt everyone’s vision of faith and the
freedom to practice one’s faith.
To “say who Christ is” without shame
is to proclaim that you believe in him without worrying about what other people
will think about you by doing so. It should not matter what someone will think
about you if you say that you believe in Christ. If you believe in Christ and
trust him then no harm should ever come of you because he will protect you.
Believe in God is a good thing, no one should be ashamed of their own religious
faith. Has world come to that? It shouldn’t be like that. Being able to believe
in Christ is right that should be respected.
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