The Universal Call to Holiness: A Five-Point Plan

To commemorate All Saints Day, let's resolve to become saints. Many people have lofty, unrealistic ideas about holiness. But God created us to be saints, to be happy with Him in eternity. So He makes sanctity within our reach.


"For this is the will of God, your sanctification," according to the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium.

During this Year of Faith, we have been asked to pray and ponder on the teachings from the Council, including the "The Universal Call to Holiness" contained in Lumen Gentium.

Here is a five-point plan to become a saint, drawn from that teaching:

1. Don't try to do it alone.

Holiness is mostly God's doing."The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace," according to Lumen Gentium. Our Lord presents us with His plan for us and the gifts we need to accomplish His plan. We just need to accept His will and His grace.

This is a seemingly simple concept, but of course, it's challenging. The way to Heaven is narrow and difficult, Jesus acknowledges. But the good news is that He is here to help. Jesus told us that He is the Vine and we are the branches, and that apart from Him, we can do nothing. But when we unite ourselves with Him, all things are possible.

To find out how we unite ourselves with Christ, follow points 2 through 5.

2. Draw upon the Church and its sacraments.

Through the sacraments we are "united in a hidden and real way to Christ."

Our salvation is rooted in the sacrament of Baptism, where Christians "truly become sons of God and sharers in the divine nature. In this way they are really made holy. Then too, by God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in their lives this holiness they have received."

This stained glass window reminds
us of how the Holy Spirit brings us
the seven gifts of the Holy
Spirit at Confirmation.

In Baptism and fortified in Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit and His sanctifying gifts, which we need to fulfill God's plan for our lives.

The Eucharist gives us the nourishment, the strength, for holiness in our day-to-day lives. "Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another."

In the sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus draws us back to Himself after we have strayed. The sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders give us specific graces to live holy vocations. The Sacrament of the Sick bolsters us in illness.

3. We must choose God's will over our own.

This is what Jesus did and what all Christians are called to do. "They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image, seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the people of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history."

And how do we know God's will?





The name of this stained glass
 window is "Pray Always" and
it reminds us to do just that,



4. We must pray.

 Pray the Holy Spirit's help, for divine love and the ability to persevere in that love. And remember that prayer includes listening, especially while pondering Scripture.

5. We must love as God loves.

"God pours out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us."

"For charity, as the bond of perfection and the fullness of the law, rules over all the means of attaining holiness and gives life to these same means. It is charity which guides us to our final end. It is the love of God and the love of one's neighbor which points out the true disciple of Christ."

To love as God loves entails sacrifice and perseverance. That's why we fall back on the previous steps to holiness: rely on God's help, especially in the sacraments, pray and trust in His will.

Remember, sanctity = union with God. "All men are called to this union with Christ, Who is the Light of the World, from Whom we go forth, through Whom we live, and toward Whom our whole life strains."

And finally, a prayer to obtain that holiness:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may be only a radiance of yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every person I come in contact with may feel your Presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.