Apr 5 Sun - How does the Resurrection of Christ affect my life?

 

Apr 5 Sun
How does the Resurrection of Christ affect my life?

Christian life is a process of identification with Christ, and culminates in the Cross and our own Resurrection.

Today's solemnity reminds us that Christian life must be a constant process of imitation of Christ. This process starts with the first grace received in Baptism and transforms the soul gradually until it reaches total identification with our Lord in this life or the next. This is an obligation for all Christians; thus, you and I must follow Christ “so closely that we live with him as did the first Twelve, so closely that we identify ourselves with him, we live his very life."

Following Christ culminates on this earth in the same way as Jesus' own life did: in the Cross and Resurrection, mysteries which are inseparable in the life of Christ. Our meeting with the Cross and Resurrection usually takes place little by little, as on a steady upward slope, almost without our realizing it.

Nevertheless, since we are thus united to the crucified and risen Christ, we are sanctified and become co-redeemers. “The Holy Cross will make us long-suffering, always maintaining the spirit of the Gospel, which leads to apostolic activity as the wonderful fruit of prayer and sacrifice. Thus, through the Church and each of her members, the great divine secret which St Paul taught to the Philippians is lived once more - a sure path to immortality and glory: through humiliation, to the Cross; and from the Cross, with Christ, to the immortal glory of the Father."

Thus, “If you have been raised with Christ, exclaims St Paul, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

Living with Christ in God is an ideal which we are happy to spend our lives pursuing. This is the reason why Easter is a time of joy. For Christ is alive. He is not someone who has gone, someone who existed for a time and then passed on, leaving us a wonderful example and a great memory.

No, Christ is alive. Jesus is the Emmanuel: God with us. His Resurrection shows us that God does not abandon his own. He promised he would not forget us. And he has kept his promise. His delight is still to be with the sons of men.

“Christ is alive in his Church. ‘I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.’ That was what God planned: Jesus, dying on the Cross, gave us the Spirit of truth and life. Christ stays in his Church, her sacraments, her liturgy, her preaching - in all that she does." 

Apr 4 Sat - Why was Mary at the foot of the Cross?

 

 Apr 4 Sat
Why was Mary at the foot of the Cross?
Jesus Christ dies embracing his Cross to redeem us. Our Lady is with Him. Today, we should immerse ourselves in Mary's Immaculate Heart, which suffered so much because of our sins.

From the words of Simeon, Mary learned that God had a role for her, next to her Son, in the work of redemption, which would demand suffering and sacrifice: “Behold, a sword will pierce your own soul also." Yet Our Lady placed herself unreservedly at the service of God's plan.

Now, “we realize that the supernatural value of our life does not depend on accomplishing the great undertakings suggested to us by our overactive imagination. Rather, it is to be found in the faithful acceptance of God's will, and in welcoming the opportunities for small, daily sacrifice generously."

How often our Lady must have meditated on the mission she was called to carry out at Christ's side! ‘But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.’ “Let us try to imitate her, talking to our Lord, conversing like two people in love about everything that happens to us, even the most insignificant incidents."

That is the way Mary lived during the thirty years of Jesus' hidden life: thirty long years of simple, ordinary life, just like that of any other home in a small village in Galilee, but years filled with ever-increasing fervor as she carried out God's will. In these years, Mary shows herself as the teacher of the sacrifice that is hidden and silent.

One day, when Jesus was about thirty, He said goodbye to his Mother and left the house of Nazareth. He was beginning his public life. From then on, until the moment of the Passion, our Lady practically disappears from the Gospel scenes: “See her, nearly always in the background, cooperating with her Son; she knows, yet keeps silence."

We must learn from our Mother how to sacrifice ourselves gladly, and without attracting attention, filled with supernatural hope. “What a contrast between our Lady's hope and our impatience! So often we call upon God to reward us at once for any little good we have done. No sooner does the first difficulty appear than we start to complain. Often, we are incapable of sustaining our efforts, of keeping our hope alive." Contemplating Mary's life will help us to rectify our outlook, and make it more supernatural.

On the Cross, Jesus wanted to have her at his side, and Mary assented. “What could she do? She united herself fully with the redemptive love of her Son, and offered to the Father her immense sorrow, which pierced her pure heart like a sharp-edged sword."

On the Cross, “Jesus looks at her, and then turning his gaze to John, he exclaims, Woman, this is your son. Then he said to the disciple, This is your Mother. In the person of John, Christ is entrusting all to his Mother, and especially his disciples: those who were to believe in him."

“Mother, my Mother - yours, because you are hers on many counts - may your love bind me to your Son's Cross; may I not lack the faith, nor the courage, nor the daring, to carry out the will of our Jesus."

Apr 3 Fri - How can I accompany Jesus in His sacrifice?

 

Apr 3 Fri
How can I accompany Jesus in His sacrifice?
Pontius Pilate, a pagan, did not believe the Truth. The Pharisees, a minority among the People of God, hated the Truth. This situation has been often repeated throughout the history of salvation.
What did Jesus do? He continued straightaway fulfilling his mission.

“God is my Father, even though he may send me suffering. He loves me tenderly, even while wounding me. Jesus suffers, to fulfill the Will of the Father... And I, who also wish to fulfill the most holy Will of God, following in the footsteps of the Master, can I complain if I, too, meet suffering as my traveling companion? It will be a sure sign of my sonship, because God is treating me as he treated his own Divine Son.

“But don't drag the Cross. Carry it squarely on your shoulder, because your Cross, if you carry it like that, will not be just any Cross... It will be the Holy Cross. Don't carry your Cross with resignation: resignation is not a generous word. Love the Cross. When you really love it, your Cross will be... a Cross without a Cross.
“And surely you will find Mary on the way, just as Jesus did.

“Very likely, there will be times when, alone in front of a crucifix, you find tears coming to your eyes. Don't try to hold them back... But try to ensure that those tears give rise to a resolution.

As for your sins, God always forgives when you are totally repentant and desire to change. He forgives... and He never gets tired of forgiving. Never. You may get tired of asking. I hope not. He never, never tires of forgiving. Never.

“We must give our life for others. That is the only way to live the life of Jesus Christ and to become one and the same thing with him.” St Josemaría 

Apr 2 Thu - What do we celebrate on Holy Thursday?

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eso7w59MImfP_wax95dvgVxKcnm16H6U?usp=sharing 
Apr 2 Thu
What do we celebrate on Holy Thursday?
Today, we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and of the “Ministerial Priesthood.” 

The Lord shares his gifts, his sacrifice, and his priesthood with us.
He is the High Priest through whom we have been reconciled with God,
He is the Sacrifice by which we have been reconciled,
He is the Temple in which we have been reconciled,
He is God with whom we have been reconciled.

He alone is priest, sacrifice, and temple because He is all these things as God in the form of a servant; but He is not alone as God, for He is this with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God.

I am glad to share with you my small composition “Acts of Thanksgiving after Communion”, they are seven prayers, one for each day of the week. I hope this helps you to establish a real dialogue with Our Lord after the Mass. 
You can download it in pdb (for ISilo) and in pdf.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eso7w59MImfP_wax95dvgVxKcnm16H6U?usp=sharing 

Apr 1 Wed - Is Jesus “The Truth”?

 

Apr 1 Wed
Is Jesus “The Truth”?
Søren Kierkegaard compared Socrates and Christ; while Socrates claimed to be a “midwife” of truth, so that his students give birth to the truth inside themselves, Christ is “the Truth.” He has “authority” because He is the Author of all Creation. I merely talk about God; He is God.

But if He is the Author of all Creation, all creation is “sacramental”: it is a symbol and an instrument of God’s love.

So, when a student says, “I hate math,” the teacher should say, “But one of the languages of the universe is mathematics. It is the language God uses to help us understand the order of things.”

Thus, it is time for us Christians to shout from the rooftops that work, in this material world, is a gift from God. For work is a participation in the creative work of God. Moreover, since Christ took it into his hands, work has become for us a redeemed and redemptive reality. It is something to be sanctified and something which sanctifies.

Man ought not to limit himself to material production. Work is born of love; it is a manifestation of love and is directed toward love. We see the hand of God, not only in the wonders of nature, but also in our experience of work and effort. Work thus becomes prayer and thanksgiving, because we know we are placed on earth by God, that we are loved by him, and made heirs to his promises.

The visible things of Creation are like handwritten letters from God. Who among us who has known the love of a beloved would simply toss out a handwritten letter from our beloved? We read it, save it, and read it again and again as if to put the beloved in our presence, if merely in this small, indirect way. We should realize that what looks like the indistinguishable white envelopes of Creation are really letters from our Beloved. And so, we should open them carefully and lovingly so we shall find the communications of love they contain.

And yet, although letters can be wonderful, love is best delivered in person. If letters from your beloved are wonderful, who wouldn’t want to visit the beloved in person? The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

In classes, we talk about God. Or we talk about God’s handiwork in Creation. But in the Eucharist, God comes to us in person, in the person of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. So, we should take Math students to Mass, not to have a little “religion” before they go back to the “real world” stuff. Rather, we should take students to Mass to encounter their Creator, and His love “incarnate,” in Person. And in that encounter, remind themselves that they are loved, and in all their scientific studies, they are reading love letters from the One who loved them so much He was willing to die for them. 

Mar 31 Tue - Do I always tell the truth with charity?

 

Mar 31 Tue
Do I always tell the truth with charity?
I heard my father say a saying… “The Truth doesn’t offend,” and it was something that stuck with me. However, as my life progressed, I discovered that although this saying was true, it needed to be completed: to live and always tell the truth, but accompanied by charity.

Now, let’s see what the words truth and charity mean. Truth: It is the conformity of things with the concept that the mind forms of them.
Charity: It is the attitude of solidarity that one has with the suffering of others.

Too often, we Christians have debased charity, as if it could be confined to a soulless and cold alms-giving, or we have reduced it to more or less stereotyped “good works”.

From our simplest conversations to the deepest and most difficult ones we have to address, in any area of our life, we must proceed in a clear, direct, and firm way, but with charity.

Now, it is difficult, which is why many of you may tell me: It is one thing to say it and another to do it.
But because it is difficult, we should not avoid it, but, on the contrary, we should continually practice it. Let’s remember that, like any art, practice makes perfection.

To help, I share with you some obstacles that I think we have all faced on a daily basis to always live in the truth…

• False humility: Not recognizing the talents and virtues that I have, because if I do, I must put them at the service of others.

• Boasting: I declare having virtues and merits that I do not have, because I want to look good to others.

• Hypocrisy: Saying one thing and doing another, as the saying goes, “acting double standards.”

• Adulation: It is giving another an exaggerated and interested “compliment.”

Let us cement our relationships, make them lasting over time, and be close to the people who matter to us and who care about us (caring about each other genuinely and generously, applying fraternal correction if necessary). Only then can we always live in the truth with charity.

“Defend the truth with charity and firmness when the things of God are at stake. Practice holy shamelessness in denouncing errors, even though at times they are no more than insinuations; at other times they will be odious utterances of the most blatant ignorance, and, normally, a sign of man’s frustration at not being able to endure the fruitfulness of the word of God."

A poet said, “Life is the art of encounter, although there is so much disagreement about life.”

What do you say? Do you dare? Let’s go against the current, on topics that are not trends or fashion. I assure you that we will leave a better world.

Mar 30 Mon - How can I become more united with God?

 

Mar 30 Mon
How can I become more united with God?

Recently, Pope Leo talked to a group of young priests on the sacrament of penance. 

“The fact that the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be received repeatedly is not always matched by a willingness on the part of the baptized to make use of it: it is as though the infinite treasure of the Church’s mercy remained 'unused’. Some Christians, not infrequently, remain in a state of sin for a long time, rather than approaching the confessional with simplicity of faith and heart to receive the gift of the Risen Lord."

“The law of the Church establishes that every Christian is obliged to make a sacramental confession at least once a year, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, following the Second Vatican Council, confirmed this norm."

“Saint Augustine affirms: One who confesses his sins, and accuses them, begins to work with God. God accuses your sins: and if you also accuse, you are united to God. To recognize our sins means ‘being in harmony’ with God, uniting ourselves with Him.”

“The Sacrament of Reconciliation is thus a 'workshop of unity’: it restores unity with God through the forgiveness of sins and the infusion of sanctifying grace, unity with the Church, and your inner unity."

The Pope expressed the hope the sinner should have since he remains totally dependent on God the Creator; this dependence, when recognized, can open the way to conversion. Sin is turning one’s back on Him. With the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Church, through the priest, restores people’s unity with God. 

The unity restored with God is also unity with the Church, which is the mystical body of Christ: we are members of the “whole Christ”.

“With the sacrament of Confession, the Church is also enriched by the renewed holiness of her repentant and forgiven children. In the confessional, the priest collaborates in the edification of the Church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic; and in so doing, he also gives new energy to society and to the world."

“Unity with God and with the Church, finally, is the prerequisite for the inner unity of individuals, so necessary today. This inner unity is a genuine desire, especially among the younger generations. The unfulfilled promises of unbridled consumerism and the frustrating experience of a freedom detached from the truth are opportunities for evangelization. They allow us to awaken those existential questions to which only Christ can give a full answer. God became man to save us, and He does so also by nurturing our religious sense, our irrepressible longing for truth and love, so that we may embrace the Mystery in which ‘we live and move and have our being’."

Those who allow themselves to be continually renewed by God’s forgiveness become agents of reconciliation in everyday life. In him or her are fulfilled the words attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”.

Dear friends, never neglect to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with constancy, so that you may always be the first to benefit from divine Mercy.

Mar 29 Sun - Am I committed to Jesus?

 

Mar 29 Sun
Am I committed to Jesus?
Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem as the Messiah upon a donkey, just as had been prophesied many centuries before. The people also acclaim him in a clearly messianic fashion. The Pharisees knew these prophecies very well, but so also did the common people, and they were visibly overjoyed.

The triumph of Jesus is a simple affair; He makes do with a poor animal for a throne. “I don’t know about you, but I am not humiliated to acknowledge that in the Lord’s eyes I am a beast of burden: ‘I am like a donkey in your presence, but I am continually with you. You hold my right hand,’ you take me by the bridle" (St. Josemaría).

Jesus also wants to enter triumphantly into the lives of men today, riding upon a humble animal; he would like us to bear witness to him in the simplicity of our work done well, showing forth our cheerfulness, our serenity, and our sincere concern for others.

The story of each man is the story of God’s continual watchfulness over him. Each man is the object of the Lord’s special love. Jesus was ready to do everything for Jerusalem, but the city was not willing to open up its gates to his mercy. This is the deep mystery of human freedom, which always retains that sad possibility of rejecting the grace of God. “Free man, subject yourself to a voluntary servitude, so that Jesus won’t have to say of you what He is said to have told Saint Teresa about others: ‘Teresa, I was willing. But men were not’."

How indeed are we responding to the countless promptings of the Holy Spirit, who seeks to make us holy in the midst of our ordinary duties and surroundings? Each day, how often do we say ‘yes’ to God and ‘no’ to our selfishness, to our laziness, and to everything that amounts to a lack of love, even if it is only something small?

St Bernard comments, “How different the cries, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him,’ and then ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!’ How different the cries are that now are calling him ‘King of Israel’ and then, in a few days, will be saying, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ What a contrast between the green branches and the cross, between the flowers and the thorns! Before they were offering their own clothes for him to walk upon, and so soon afterwards they are stripping him of his, and casting lots upon them."

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem asks for loyalty and perseverance from each one of us; it calls us to deepen in our faithfulness, and for our resolutions to be more than just bright lights that sparkle for a moment and then fade away. Thus, we will be following Our Lord unto the Cross.
Excerpts from F. Fernández Carvajal 

Mar 28 Sat - What is the role of the lay people in the Church?

 

Mar 28 Sat
What is the role of the lay people in the Church?

Before the Second Vatican Council, some thought that the term “the Church” referred to “the priests.” Some laypeople could also be a part of her, but mostly as second fiddles, organizing the choir, removing the dust from the images, and similar tasks.

When Saint Josemaría preached that all were called to sanctity, precisely in the midst of common activities, he was often misjudged. Soon after, the universal call to sanctity became one of the brightest reminders of the Council.

With the universal Church as the means of salvation established by God, all the faithful are called, each according to his or her particular condition, to exercise the mission which God entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world. [CIC, 204; cf. CCC, 871–873]

Because of this radical unity of God’s people, ALL the faithful share in Christ’s priesthood: the BAPTISMAL (common, or royal) priesthood of all the faithful. And baptism is equal to all (no class A, B, or platinum).

“The laity are … the faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ; …in their personal manner carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.…”

“By reason of their special vocation, it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will. They live in the world, that is, they are engaged in every work and business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life, which, as it were, constitute their very existence.” [Vat II, Lumen Gentium, 31; cf. LG, 30–38].

Moreover, Christ wanted for the Church to have a HIERARCHY –to teach, rule, and sanctify–with the power and mission to teach doctrine, guard the deposit of the faith, govern the life of the Church, and administer the sacraments. This is the MINISTERIAL or hierarchical priesthood of those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood to develop the baptismal grace of all Christians.

Thus, in the Church, there is both a radical equality of dignity (a unity of mission), and a diversity of function among the faithful. Priests and laity are both equally “Christian.” The lay people are not simply “assistants” of the priests; rather, both priests and lay people are called to serve Christ and the Church.

The mission of the entire Church and that of the hierarchy are not identical, just as the words Church and hierarchy are not synonymous.

The Church’s mission falls squarely on the shoulders of all her members, while the mission of the hierarchy –a particular aspect of the mission of the Church– is carried out by the members of the hierarchy.

The mission of the laity is not merely a participation in the mission of the hierarchy; rather, it is a specific participation in the mission of the Church.

Mar 27 Fri - Why should Our Mother Mary suffer?

 

Mar 27 Fri
Why should Our Mother Mary suffer?
Today, we consider the sorrows of Our Mother. The Virgin Mary is the teacher of hidden and silent sacrifice.

Our Lady meditated on the mission she was called to carry out at Christ's side! “But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. Let us try to imitate her, talking to our Lord, conversing like two people in love about everything that happens to us, even the most insignificant incidents." St. Josemaría.

That is the way Mary lived during the thirty years of Jesus' hidden life: years of simple, ordinary life, just like that of any other home in a small village in Galilee, but years filled with ever-increasing fervor as she carried out God's will, and waited vigilantly for the moment in which her soul would be pierced with the sword foretold by Simeon.

One day, when Jesus was about thirty, he said goodbye to his Mother and left the house in Nazareth. He was beginning his public life. Perhaps Mary thought that the moment had come for her to play her part in what she had been waiting for so ardently, and so we see her with Christ at Cana. But Jesus said to her: “My hour has not yet come." From then on, until the moment of the Passion, our Lady practically disappears from the Gospel scenes.

We must learn from our Mother how to suffer and sacrifice ourselves gladly and without attracting attention, filled with supernatural hope. “What a contrast between our Lady's hope and our own impatience! So often we call upon God to reward us at once for any little good we have done. No sooner does the first difficulty appear than we start to complain. Often, we are incapable of sustaining our efforts, of keeping our hope alive.”

“Contemplating Mary's life will help us to rectify our outlook and make it more supernatural. The great heroines of the Old Testament - Judith, Esther, Deborah - were acclaimed and exalted by the people. Mary's throne, by contrast, like that of her Son, is the Cross. During the rest of her life, until she was taken body and soul into heaven, what most impresses us about her is her quiet presence. St Luke, who knew her well, describes her as being close to the first disciples in prayer. This was the way she lived to the end of her days on earth, she who was to be praised by all creatures for all eternity."

Tell her: “Mother, my Mother - yours, because you are hers on many counts - may your love bind me to your Son's Cross; may I not lack the faith, nor the courage, nor the daring, to carry out the will of our Jesus." This is how we want to live always, and especially in these coming days of Holy Week: closely united to our Blessed Mother, for “we do not wish to, we cannot, leave her alone."

Mar 26 Thu - What is the Communion Rite of the Mass?

 

Mar 26 Thu
What is the Communion Rite of the Mass?
We all stand even as the Great Amen, uniting us to the sacred action, still echoes in the church.

The ancient sacrificial custom required that part of the victim be given back to the person offering the sacrifice. Thus, he became, symbolically, God’s guest. That which was merely a symbol in the pagan rites and a figure in the Jewish offerings is a reality in the Holy Mass. After we have offered to God his Son Jesus Christ in sacrifice, God offers him to us as spiritual food. 

Once they were set free from the oppression of the Egyptians, the Jews had to travel across the desert. Their confidence in God began to dwindle. They began to complain against Moses. But God’s patience was greater than the nasty complaints of the Israelites. He sent them manna, “bread from heavens.” Each morning for forty years, until they entered the Promised Land, the people went out and gathered the day’s portion of manna. 

Jesus himself pointed out the manna as a prefiguration of the Eucharist, “Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die.” 

The Christians are strengthened by the body of Christ, the true “Bread from heaven.” If the manna was a token of God’s tender care for the chosen people whom He delivered from slavery, more so does the Eucharist reveal God’s paternal love for us. Those who nourish their soul with the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, can be sure of reaching the end of the road that leads to eternal life. 

In the synagogue of Capernaum, Jesus said, 

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they are dead...I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.

These words perplexed those who heard Christ. The Lord did not take back his assertions; He even went further on: 

I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.
After this, St John notes, many left him and stopped going with him.

During the Last Supper, Jesus redeemed his promise, making it a reality, to the amazement of the apostles. “What we cannot do, our Lord can do. Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man, leaves us not a symbol, but a reality. He himself stays with us. He will go to the Father, but He will also remain among men. He will leave us, not simply a gift that will make us remember him, not an image that becomes blurred with time, like a photograph that soon fades and yellows, and has no meaning except for those who were contemporaries. Under the appearances of bread and wine, He is really present, with his body and blood, with his soul and divinity.” 

Mar 25 Wed - Why do we say that the Church is the People of God?

 

Mar 25 Wed
Why do we say that the Church is the People of God?

Recently, Pope Leo XIV described the Church as the People of God—a People that everyone is called to enter.

“God, who created the world and humanity, and who wishes to save every man, carries out his work of salvation in history, choosing a real People and dwelling among them.” 

As Israel, according to the flesh, which wandered in the desert, was already called the Church of God, so too, the new Israel, which advances in this present era in search of a future and permanent city, is called also the Church of Christ. 

This is the new and perfect Covenant, ratified in Christ, proclaiming the fuller revelation given through the Word of God Himself made flesh.

“Indeed, it is Christ who, in giving His Body and His Blood, unites this People in Himself and in a definitive way. 
It is a People now made up of members of every nation; it is united by faith in Him, by adherence to Him, by living the same life as Him, animated by the Spirit of the Risen One. 
This is the Church: the People of God who draw their existence from the body of Christ and who are themselves the body of Christ; not a people like any other, but the People of God, called together by Him and made up of women and men from all the peoples of the earth. Her unifying principle is not a language, a culture, an ethnicity, but faith in Christ."

“The Church, then, is a messianic People, precisely because it has Christ, the Messiah, as her Head. Above any task or function, therefore, what really matters in the Church is to be grafted onto Christ, to be children of God by grace ... 
We are in the Church to receive life from the Father unceasingly and to live as His children and brethren among ourselves. Consequently, the law that animates relationships in the Church is love, as we receive and experience it in Jesus; and her goal is the Kingdom of God, towards which she walks together with all humanity.”

The identity of the People of God is the dignity and freedom of the children of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple. All her members have the same dignity, since all have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and called to holiness. This dignity is compatible with a diversity of roles among different members.

“Even those who have not yet received the Gospel are, therefore, in some way, oriented towards the People of God, and the Church, cooperating in Christ’s mission, is called upon to spread the Gospel everywhere and to everyone, so that every person may enter into contact with Christ."

“Thus, every Christian is called to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness in every environment in which one lives and works. This People shows its catholicity, welcoming the wealth and resources of different cultures and, at the same time, offering them the newness of the Gospel to purify them and to raise them up."