Acquiring Sanctity

~~~ Romans 6:19-23 ~~~ Psalm 1 ~~~ Luke 12:49-53 ~~~

...the benefit that you have leads 
to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.
...the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus frees you from sin and opens
 the path for your sanctification.
One who is bound by sin is incapable of seeing
their way to sanctification.

Sanctification...the act or process of acquiring sanctity,
of being made or becoming holy.

The reminder today is that even though
 the flesh is weak Jesus calls you to holiness.

A holiness that he himself is clearly offering to you.

As one who is sanctified God is with you
here and after death.

You do believe in life after death?
If not, then why would you care about
how you live your life?

I feel sorry for those who believe there is nothing after death.

The whole point of the passion and Resurrection of Our Lord
was so that we could enter into heaven to be in his presence...
to praise and worship him for all of eternity.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!

It is unlikely that you would ignore a fire.
Jesus sets the earth on fire with his holiness.
Jesus sets the earth on fire with his
 invitation to personal sanctity.

Baptized into sanctity, we are set apart...
to be used for a special purpose...
God's purpose.

As a living part of the Body of Christ
you are in a constant state of being sanctified.

We witness sanctification even of bread and wine
during the consecration of the Mass.
The bread and wine are transformed right before your eyes...
they become set apart...holy.

Leviticus 11:14
Tells us to consecrate ourselves, to be holy...

Hebrews 12:14
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness
without which no one will see the Lord.

This is your vocation...

You are to be sanctified in the Lord.

It is holiness that sets the earth on fire...
A fire for the Lord.

Blessings for the journey.

~~~Peace~~~

Sanctify Your Heart

~~~Sixth Sunday of Easter ~~~

~~Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17~~Psalm 66~~

~~1 Peter 3:15-18 ~~ John 14:15-21~~

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.

Have you ever considered what this verse really means?
Sanctify...set apart as or declare holy; consecrate.

Peter writes of how we are to set apart our hearts as holy....
holy for Christ, the anointed one as Lord.
Does that mean to consecrate only a portion
of our heart for the Lord?
Does it mean we put God in part of our heart,
leaving the rest to do with as we want?
We must each make the decision to legitimize
 the holy presence of the Lord in our heart.
We must claim his presence for ourselves.
He resides in our heart, always there with us as close
 as our next heartbeat.
No one can do it for you.

Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence,

You can not give an explanation for something you do not know.
It is this knowledge that Christ in always with us
that gives us a reason to have hope.

...do it with gentleness...
We are the face of God to those we come in contact with everyday.
How we talk with them, how we interact with them
should be a representation of the Christ who
is sanctifying our heart.
The Christ who lives in our heart.
The God who is our all in all...our everything.

Treating others with the utmost respect is one way
 to present the Lord to them.

If we are not capable of exemplifying God's love toward all people;
have we really sanctified a place in our heart for Christ?

What is inside our heart cannot not be confined there.
What is truly in our hearts must become visible to others.
They will know us by our love
because we have set apart our heart for our Lord.

We are Blessed to know this is not just a jumble of empty words
Keep the glow of sanctifying grace in your heart
and it will surely be visible to others.

~~~Peace~~~