Obedience to the Holy Spirit entails a faithful observance of the commandments of God, the laws and precepts of the Church, and just civil laws. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing to obtain our Salvation. He gives us the power to make a lasting commitment to Christ and the strength needed to keep that commitment. …
The commandments, summed up, deal specifically with the love of God and the love of neighbor. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater …
The love of God is called the soul of morality because: (1) God is love, and (2) in God’s plan that love reaches out to men in Jesus Christ, so that men might be united by their love for God and for one another. 1. The love of God is called the soul of morality because God is love. God …
Man’s greatest responsibility in life is to do God’s will by living in His love and to practice the “new commandment” of love of neighbor. Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s …
A person obtains holiness, whatever his state of life may be, by loving God above all else. God’s life is holy because it is lived with love. The Father and the Son forever give Themselves to each other in one eternal infinite act of love. From this mutual love proceeds the Holy Spirit, their infinite, eternal union; the total sharing …
Men and women enter into consecrated vocations to show, in a special and necessary way, their love of God by giving themselves in service to mankind. There are many different forms of consecrated life, such as religious brothers and sisters, and apostolic celibates. The consecrated life is a special state to which our Lord God calls some people. Like all …
Jesus is the divine model of prayer because, by becoming man while remaining divine, He showed us by His example that we could draw close to God by prayer, since prayer played such an important part in His life. During the thirty years of His hidden life, Jesus lived an ordinary, quiet, and prayerful life. Subject to Mary and Joseph, …
The teaching of the Church instructs us on things which are to be done and to be avoided, so that we, as followers of Jesus, might live the Christian life according to His will. As Christians, we should respond to God’s love by faith and action. If we truly love God, we shall seek to always do His holy will. …
Yes. One of the principal effects received from the Holy Eucharist at Holy Communion is the intensification and strengthening of supernatural life. Being a sign of nourishment, the Holy Eucharist is meant to do for the soul what material food does for the body, and that is to preserve life and to protect it. As material food enables us to …
Yes, Holy Communion unites our souls to Jesus’ divine and human natures. It is an article of faith that the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is truly, really, and substantially the Body and Blood of Christ, together with His soul and divinity. Therefore, when we receive Holy Communion, we receive the real, physical Body and Blood of Christ, together with …