Gaudete et Exsultate
On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World
Gaudete et Exsultate
On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World
Apostolic Exhortation
Pope Francis
Our
Sunday
Visitor
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Copyright © 2018 Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Vatican City
www.vatican.va; www.libreriaeditricevaticana.va
Published by Our Sunday Visitor
23 22 21 20 19 18 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-68192-329-1 (Inventory No. T1999)
eISBN: 978-1-68192-330-7
LCCN: 2018940689
Cover design: Tyler Ottinger
Cover art: Restored Traditions
Interior design: Amanda Falk
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
•••
•••
Two Subtle Enemies of Holiness
•••
Going Against the Flow
The Great Criterion
Signs of Holiness in Today’s World
Perseverance, Patience and Meekness
Joy and a Sense of Humor
Boldness and Passion
In Community
In Constant Prayer
•••
Spiritual Combat, Vigilance and Discernment
Combat and Vigilance
Discernment
•••
1. “Rejoice and be glad” (Mt 5:12), Jesus tells those persecuted or humiliated for his sake. The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence. The call to holiness is present in various ways from the very first pages of the Bible. We see it expressed in the Lord’s words to Abraham: “Walk before me, and be blameless” (Gen 17:1).
2. What follows is not meant to be a treatise on holiness, containing definitions and distinctions helpful for understanding this important subject, or a discussion of the various means of sanctification. My modest goal is to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges and opportunities. For the Lord has chosen each one of us “to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph 1:4).
Chapter
