September 4: The Call to Holiness / El Llamado a la Santidad

In his Letter to the Colossians and elsewhere, St. Paul teaches that “holiness” is gained by the normal activities of daily life, if done in a spirit of faith and with trust in the grace of God. The natural and sometimes un-impressive activities of life (work, study, health-care, eating and drinking, family life) can be dedicated to God and can be performed with gratitude.

As was true for his first readers in Colossae, St. Paul’s ideal for us (and what he proposes) is to “lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.” This is what we have come to call “the universal call to holiness,” shared by all the Baptized.

Isn’t it a blessing to know that the Lord has useful work for each of us to do? And that we can do it in quite ordinary and unassuming ways? What we need, though, and ought to pray for without ceasing, is the courage and insight to know where to cast our nets. (Luke 5, 1-11)

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Todos los días, el Señor Jesús nos manda al mundo y nos invita a proclamar su Palabra y a ser su Cuerpo visible para el mundo. 

En Lucas 5, 1-11, San Pedro y sus compañeros estaban estupefactos de que un extraño, no pescador, les pudiera decir dónde pescar cantidad de peces, cuando ellos, pescadores de profesión, habían fracasado. Este hombre, el mismo Señor Jesús, con un mensaje impactante, era realmente extraordinario. Él les sedujo con su encanto y le siguieron. 

Más tarde (después de la Resurrección de Jesús), “remarían mar adentro,” es decir, arriesgarían y entregarían su vida por Jesús y “pescarían hombres” para exponerlos al encanto de la vida y mensaje de Jesús.