(ONLY VIDEO) Pope Francis explained during his General Audience that holiness is not a state reserved for bishops or religious. He said that it is a gift that is given by God and that all baptized people can be saints.
SUMMARY OF THE POPE'S CATECHESIS:
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In our catechesis on the Church, we now consider the universal call to holiness.
Thanks to Baptism, each member of the Church shares in this vocation; every one of us is called to be a saint. Holiness is first and foremost Godâ??s gift, and not our own achievement. Christ loved the Church, Saint Paul tells, and gave himself up for her, to make her holy (cf. Eph 5:26). In the communion of the Church, each of us has been sanctified by the grace of Baptism and is called to grow in this holiness. Whatever our state of life, we are called to live our daily lives and to fulfil our various responsibilities in prayerful union with the Lord and our brothers and sisters. Today let us ask ourselves how well we have responded to this call.
By asking us to become holy in our daily lives, Christ is inviting us to experience in all things his own deep joy and to become a gift of love to all around us. Growing in holiness thus means becoming better persons, free of selfishness and self-absorption, and ever ready to place ourselves at the service of our brothers and sisters in the Church as 'good stewards of Godâ??s manifold graceâ? (1 Pet 4:10).
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in todayâ??s Audience, including the various groups from England, Denmark, Japan and the United States of America. I thanks the choirs for their praise of God in song. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
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