“This is the Will of God: your sanctification”

It would not be worth giving oneself unless it were to build up a great work which is very much for God - your own sanctity. That is why the Church when canonizing saints proclaims the heroism of their lives. (Furrow, 611)

You will become a saint if you have charity, if you manage to do the things which please others and do not offend God, though you find them hard to do. (The Forge, 556)

You and I belong to Christ's family, for 'he himself has chosen us before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him, having predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his Will' [1]. We have been chosen gratuitously by Our Lord. His choice of us sets us a clear goal. Our goal is personal sanctity, as St Paul insistently reminds us, haec est voluntas Dei: sanctificatio vestra [2], 'this is the Will of God: your sanctification'. Let us not forget, then, that we are in our Master's sheepfold in order to achieve that goal…

The goal that I am putting before you, or rather that God has marked out for us all, is no illusory or unattainable ideal. I could quote you many specific examples of ordinary men and women, just like you and me, who have met Jesus passing by quasi in occulto [3], at what appeared to be quite ordinary cross-roads in their lives, and have decided to follow him, lovingly embracing their daily cross [4]. In this age of ours, an age of generalized decay, of compromise and discouragement, and also of license and anarchy, I think it is more important than ever to hold on to that simple yet profound conviction which I had when I began my priestly work and have held ever since, and which has given me a burning desire to tell all mankind that 'these world crises are crises of saints'. (Friends of God, 2-4)

[1] Eph 1:4‑5

[2] 1 Thess 4:3

[3] Hidden as it were' (John 7:10)

[4] cf Matt 16:24

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