You can read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do that before reading all the complaints about it that the Greatest Catholics of All Time are sure to spread everywhere in the Christianist, Francis-hating Right Wing Noise Machine Media.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a taste:<\/p>\n CHAPTER ONE<\/b><\/p>\n THE CALL TO HOLINESS<\/b><\/p>\n THE SAINTS WHO ENCOURAGE AND ACCOMPANY US<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 3. The Letter to the Hebrews presents a number of testimonies that encourage us to \u201crun with perseverance the race that is set before us\u201d (12:1). It speaks of Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Gideon and others (cf. 11:1-12:3). Above all, it invites us to realize that \u201ca great cloud of witnesses\u201d (12:1) impels us to advance constantly towards the goal. These witnesses may include our own mothers, grandmothers or other loved ones (cf.\u00a02 Tim\u00a0<\/i>1:5). Their lives may not always have been perfect, yet even amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord.<\/p>\n 4. The saints now in God\u2019s presence preserve their bonds of love and communion with us. The Book of Revelation attests to this when it speaks of the intercession of the martyrs: \u201cI saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; they cried out with a loud voice, \u2018O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge?\u2019\u201d (6:9-10). Each of us can say: \u201cSurrounded, led and guided by the friends of God\u2026 I do not have to carry alone what, in truth, I could never carry alone. All the saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me\u201d.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n 5. The processes of beatification and canonization recognize the signs of heroic virtue, the sacrifice of one\u2019s life in martyrdom, and certain cases where a life is constantly offered for others, even until death. This shows an exemplary imitation of Christ, one worthy of the admiration of the faithful.[2]<\/a>\u00a0We can think, for example, of Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, who offered her life for the unity of Christians.<\/p>\n THE SAINTS \u201cNEXT DOOR\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 6. Nor need we think only of those already beatified and canonized. The Holy Spirit bestows holiness in abundance among God\u2019s holy and faithful people, for \u201cit has pleased God to make men and women holy and to save them, not as individuals without any bond between them, but rather as a people who might acknowledge him in truth and serve him in holiness\u201d.[3]<\/a>\u00a0In salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in a human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people.<\/p>\n 7. I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God\u2019s people: in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance I see the holiness of the Church militant. Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflect God\u2019s presence. We might call them \u201cthe middle class of holiness\u201d.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n 8. Let us be spurred on by the signs of holiness that the Lord shows us through the humblest members of that people which \u201cshares also in Christ\u2019s prophetic office, spreading abroad a living witness to him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity\u201d.[5]<\/a>\u00a0We should consider the fact that, as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross suggests, real history is made by so many of them. As she writes: \u201cThe greatest figures of prophecy and sanctity step forth out of the darkest night. But for the most part, the formative stream of the mystical life remains invisible. Certainly the most decisive turning points in world history are substantially co-determined by souls whom no history book ever mentions. And we will only find out about those souls to whom we owe the decisive turning points in our personal lives on the day when all that is hidden is revealed\u201d.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n 9. Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church. But even outside the Catholic Church and in very different contexts, the Holy Spirit raises up \u201csigns of his presence which help Christ\u2019s followers\u201d.[7]<\/a>\u00a0Saint\u00a0John Paul II<\/a>\u00a0reminded us that \u201cthe witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants\u201d.[8]<\/a>\u00a0In the moving ecumenical commemoration held in the Colosseum during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, he stated that the martyrs are \u201ca heritage which speaks more powerfully than all the causes of division\u201d.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n THE LORD CALLS<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 10. All this is important. Yet with this Exhortation I would like to insist primarily on the call to holiness that the Lord addresses to each of us, the call that he also addresses, personally, to you: \u201cBe holy, for I am holy\u201d (Lev\u00a0<\/i>11:44; cf.\u00a01 Pet\u00a0<\/i>1:16). The\u00a0Second Vatican Council<\/a>\u00a0stated this clearly: \u201cStrengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord \u2013 each in his or her own way \u2013 to that perfect holiness by which the Father himself is perfect\u201d.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n 11. \u201cEach in his or her own way\u201d the Council says. We should not grow discouraged before examples of holiness that appear unattainable. There are some testimonies that may prove helpful and inspiring, but that we are not meant to copy, for that could even lead us astray from the one specific path that the Lord has in mind for us. The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts (cf.\u00a01 Cor\u00a0<\/i>12:7), rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them. We are all called to be witnesses, but there are many actual ways of bearing witness.[11]<\/a>\u00a0Indeed, when the great mystic, Saint John of the Cross, wrote his\u00a0Spiritual Canticle<\/i>, he preferred to avoid hard and fast rules for all. He explained that his verses were composed so that everyone could benefit from them \u201cin his or her own way\u201d.[12]<\/a>\u00a0For God\u2019s life is communicated \u201cto some in one way and to others in another\u201d.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n 12. Within these various forms, I would stress too that the \u201cgenius of woman\u201d is seen in feminine styles of holiness, which are an essential means of reflecting God\u2019s holiness in this world. Indeed, in times when women tended to be most ignored or overlooked, the Holy Spirit raised up saints whose attractiveness produced new spiritual vigour and important reforms in the Church. We can mention Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Bridget, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux. But I think too of all those unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness.<\/p>\n 13. This should excite and encourage us to give our all and to embrace that unique plan that God willed for each of us from eternity: \u201cBefore I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you\u201d (Jer\u00a0<\/i>1:5).<\/p>\n FOR YOU TOO<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 14. To be holy does not require being a bishop, a priest or a religious. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n 15. Let the grace of your baptism bear fruit in a path of holiness. Let everything be open to God; turn to him in every situation. Do not be dismayed, for the power of the Holy Spirit enables you to do this, and holiness, in the end, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life (cf.\u00a0Gal\u00a0<\/i>5:22-23). When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness, raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say: \u201cLord, I am a poor sinner, but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better\u201d. In the Church, holy yet made up of sinners, you will find everything you need to grow towards holiness. The Lord has bestowed on the Church the gifts of scripture, the sacraments, holy places, living communities, the witness of the saints and a multifaceted beauty that proceeds from God\u2019s love, \u201clike a bride bedecked with jewels\u201d (Is\u00a0<\/i>61:10).<\/p>\n 16. This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small gestures. Here is an example: a woman goes shopping, she meets a neighbour and they begin to speak, and the gossip starts. But she says in her heart: \u201cNo, I will not speak badly of anyone\u201d. This is a step forward in holiness. Later, at home, one of her children wants to talk to her about his hopes and dreams, and even though she is tired, she sits down and listens with patience and love. That is another sacrifice that brings holiness. Later she experiences some anxiety, but recalling the love of the Virgin Mary, she takes her rosary and prays with faith. Yet another path of holiness. Later still, she goes out onto the street, encounters a poor person and stops to say a kind word to him. One more step.<\/p>\n 17. At times, life presents great challenges. Through them, the Lord calls us anew to a conversion that can make his grace more evident in our lives, \u201cin order that we may share his holiness\u201d (Heb\u00a0<\/i>12:10). At other times, we need only find a more perfect way of doing what we are already doing: \u201cThere are inspirations that tend solely to perfect in an extraordinary way the ordinary things we do in life\u201d.[15]<\/a>\u00a0When Cardinal Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Nguy\u00ean van Thu\u00e2n was imprisoned, he refused to waste time waiting for the day he would be set free. Instead, he chose \u201cto live the present moment, filling it to the brim with love\u201d. He decided: \u201cI will seize the occasions that present themselves every day; I will accomplish ordinary actions in an extraordinary way\u201d.[16]<\/a><\/p>\n 18. In this way, led by God\u2019s grace, we shape by many small gestures the holiness God has willed for us, not as men and women sufficient unto ourselves but rather \u201cas good stewards of the manifold grace of God\u201d (1 Pet\u00a0<\/i>4:10). The New Zealand bishops rightly teach us that we are capable of loving with the Lord\u2019s unconditional love, because the risen Lord shares his powerful life with our fragile lives: \u201cHis love set no limits and, once given, was never taken back. It was unconditional and remained faithful. To love like that is not easy because we are often so weak. But just to try to love as Christ loved us shows that Christ shares his own risen life with us. In this way, our lives demonstrate his power at work \u2013 even in the midst of human weakness\u201d.[17]<\/a><\/p>\n YOUR MISSION IN CHRIST<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 19. A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for \u201cthis is the will of God, your sanctification\u201d (1 Thess\u00a0<\/i>4:3). Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel.<\/p>\n 20. That mission has its fullest meaning in Christ, and can only be understood through him. At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of his life. It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord\u2019s death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him. But it can also entail reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus\u2019 earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his self-sacrificing love. The contemplation of these mysteries, as Saint Ignatius of Loyola pointed out, leads us to incarnate them in our choices and attitudes.[18]<\/a>\u00a0Because \u201ceverything in Jesus\u2019 life was a sign of his mystery\u201d,[19]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChrist\u2019s whole life is a revelation\u00a0<\/i>of the Father\u201d,[20]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChrist\u2019s whole life is a mystery of redemption\u201d,[21]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChrist\u2019s whole life is a mystery of recapitulation\u201d.[22]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChrist enables us to live in him\u00a0<\/i>all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us\u201d.[23]<\/a><\/p>\n 21. The Father\u2019s plan is Christ, and ourselves in him. In the end, it is Christ who loves in us, for \u201choliness is nothing other than charity lived to the full\u201d.[24]<\/a>\u00a0As a result, \u201cthe measure of our holiness stems from the stature that Christ achieves in us, to the extent that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we model our whole life on his\u201d.[25]<\/a>\u00a0Every saint is a message which the Holy Spirit takes from the riches of Jesus Christ and gives to his people.<\/p>\n 22. To recognize the word that the Lord wishes to speak to us through one of his saints, we do not need to get caught up in details, for there we might also encounter mistakes and failures. Not everything a saint says is completely faithful to the Gospel; not everything he or she does is authentic or perfect. What we need to contemplate is the totality of their life, their entire journey of growth in holiness, the reflection of Jesus Christ that emerges when we grasp their overall meaning as a person.[26]<\/a><\/p>\n 23. This is a powerful summons to all of us. You too need to see the entirety of your life as a mission. Try to do so by listening to God in prayer and recognizing the signs that he gives you. Always ask the Spirit what Jesus expects from you at every moment of your life and in every decision you must make, so as to discern its place in the mission you have received. Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n 24. May you come to realize what that word is, the message of Jesus that God wants to speak to the world by your life. Let yourself be transformed. Let yourself be renewed by the Spirit, so that this can happen, lest you fail in your precious mission. The Lord will bring it to fulfilment despite your mistakes and missteps, provided that you do not abandon the path of love but remain ever open to his supernatural grace, which purifies and enlightens.<\/p>\n ACTIVITY THAT SANCTIFIES<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 25. Just as you cannot understand Christ apart from the kingdom he came to bring, so too your personal mission is inseparable from the building of that kingdom: \u201cStrive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness\u201d (Mt\u00a0<\/i>6:33). Your identification with Christ and his will involves a commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace. Christ himself wants to experience this with you, in all the efforts and sacrifices that it entails, but also in all the joy and enrichment it brings. You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavour.<\/p>\n 26. It is not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others, to want peace and quiet while avoiding activity, to seek prayer while disdaining service. Everything can be accepted and integrated into our life in this world, and become a part of our path to holiness. We are called to be contemplatives even in the midst of action, and to grow in holiness by responsibly and generously carrying out our proper mission.<\/p>\n 27. Could the Holy Spirit urge us to carry out a mission and then ask us to abandon it, or not fully engage in it, so as to preserve our inner peace? Yet there are times when we are tempted to relegate pastoral engagement or commitment in the world to second place, as if these were \u201cdistractions\u201d along the path to growth in holiness and interior peace. We can forget that \u201clife does not have a mission, but is a mission\u201d.[27]<\/a><\/p>\n 28. Needless to say, anything done out of anxiety, pride or the need to impress others will not lead to holiness. We are challenged to show our commitment in such a way that everything we do has evangelical meaning and identifies us all the more with Jesus Christ. We often speak, for example, of the spirituality of the catechist, the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood, the spirituality of work. For the same reason, in\u00a0Evangelii Gaudium<\/a><\/i>\u00a0I concluded by speaking of a spirituality of mission, in\u00a0Laudato Si\u2019<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>of an ecological spirituality, and in\u00a0Amoris Laetitia<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>of a spirituality of family life.<\/p>\n 29. This does not mean ignoring the need for moments of quiet, solitude and silence before God. Quite the contrary. The presence of constantly new gadgets, the excitement of travel and an endless array of consumer goods at times leave no room for God\u2019s voice to be heard. We are overwhelmed by words, by superficial pleasures and by an increasing din, filled not by joy but rather by the discontent of those whose lives have lost meaning. How can we fail to realize the need to stop this rat race and to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt dialogue with God? Finding that space may prove painful but it is always fruitful. Sooner or later, we have to face our true selves and let the Lord enter. This may not happen unless \u201cwe see ourselves staring into the abyss of a frightful temptation, or have the dizzying sensation of standing on the precipice of utter despair, or find ourselves completely alone and abandoned\u201d.[28]<\/a>\u00a0In such situations, we find the deepest motivation for living fully our commitment to our work.<\/p>\n 30. The same distractions that are omnipresent in today\u2019s world also make us tend to absolutize our free time, so that we can give ourselves over completely to the devices that provide us with entertainment or ephemeral pleasures.[29]<\/a>\u00a0As a result, we come to resent our mission, our commitment grows slack, and our generous and ready spirit of service begins to flag. This denatures our spiritual experience. Can any spiritual fervour be sound when it dwells alongside sloth in evangelization or in service to others?<\/p>\n 31. We need a spirit of holiness capable of filling both our solitude and our service, our personal life and our evangelizing efforts, so that every moment can be an expression of self-sacrificing love in the Lord\u2019s eyes. In this way, every minute of our lives can be a step along the path to growth in holiness.<\/p>\n MORE ALIVE, MORE HUMAN<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 32. Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. On the contrary, you will become what the Father had in mind when he created you, and you will be faithful to your deepest self.\u00a0<\/b>To depend on God sets us free from every form of enslavement and leads us to recognize our great dignity. We see this in Saint Josephine Bakhita: \u201cAbducted and sold into slavery at the tender age of seven, she suffered much at the hands of cruel masters. But she came to understand the profound truth that God, and not man, is the true Master of every human being, of every human life. This experience became a source of great wisdom for this humble daughter of Africa\u201d.[30]<\/a><\/p>\n 33. To the extent that each Christian grows in holiness, he or she will bear greater fruit for our world. The bishops of West Africa have observed that \u201cwe are being called in the spirit of the New Evangelization to be evangelized and to evangelize through the empowering of all you, the baptized, to take up your roles as salt of the earth and light of the world wherever you find yourselves\u201d.[31]<\/a><\/p>\n\n