The Path to Holiness: Becoming a Living Sacrifice of Love

By John Paul Thomas

What is the most glorious act you could accomplish in life? This question may be answered in many and varied ways, but there is only one good answer. Ultimately, living a life fully immersed in the sacrificial love of Christ is the answer. We are called to become a “Living Sacrifice of Love.” The path to that goal centers on the virtues of humility, trust and mercy.

Living a life of ongoing sacrificial love requires you to become a beacon of mercy in this world. Unfortunately, we live in a world that is in many ways void of mercy. It is a world in which harshness and judgment are the norm. However, one of the primary reasons so many people lack mercy in our day and age is because they lack humility and trust.

We also live in a world filled with suffering. But sadly, suffering is rarely understood as an opportunity to achieve the highest level of holiness. Suffering is rarely transformed into sacrificial living. Instead, it is often experienced only as a burden to be avoided.

The goal of this book is to offer you an invitation to look more deeply at the path to holiness and to discover the way in which you can travel it in your own life. This invitation is not simply given to help you grasp the theology of holiness; rather, it is an invitation to live it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: My Catholic Life Inc.
• Release date: Feb 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370324989

John Paul Thomas

"John Paul Thomas" is the pen name this Catholic priest chose in honor of the Apostles Saints John and Thomas and the great evangelist Saint Paul. This name also evokes the memory of the great Pope Saint John Paul II.John is the beloved apostle who sought out a deeply personal and intimate relationship with his Savior. Hopefully the writings in this book point us all to a deeply personal and intimate relationship with our God. May John be a model of this intimacy and love.Thomas is also a beloved apostle and close friend of Jesus but is well known for his lack of faith in Jesus' resurrection. Though he ultimately entered into a profound faith crying out, "my Lord and my God," he is given to us as a model of our own weakness of faith. Thomas should inspire us to always return to faith when we realize we have doubted.As a Pharisee, Paul severely persecuted the early Christian Church. However, after going through a powerful conversion, he went on to become the great evangelist to the gentiles, founding many new communities of believers and writing many letters contained in Sacred Scripture. His letters are deeply personal and reveal a shepherd's heart. He is a model for all as we seek to embrace our calling to spread the Gospel.

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INTRODUCTION

What is the most glorious act you could accomplish in life?  This question may be answered in many and varied ways, but there is only one good answer.  Ultimately, living a life fully immersed in the sacrificial love of Christ is the answer.  We are called to become a Living Sacrifice of Love.  The path to that goal centers on the virtues of humility, trust and mercy.

Living a life of ongoing sacrificial love requires you to become a beacon of mercy in this world.  Unfortunately, we live in a world that is in many ways void of mercy.  It is a world in which harshness and judgment are the norm.  However, one of the primary reasons so many people lack mercy in our day and age is because they lack humility and trust. 

We also live in a world filled with suffering.  But sadly, suffering is rarely understood as an opportunity to achieve the highest level of holiness.  Suffering is rarely transformed into sacrificial living.  Instead, it is often experienced only as a burden to be avoided.

The goal of this book is to offer you an invitation to look more deeply at the path to holiness and to discover the way in which you can travel it in your own life.  This invitation is not simply given to help you grasp the theology of holiness; rather, it is an invitation to live it.

Holiness requires a very radical choice.  You cannot become holy by being mediocre in your faith.  It is not possible to be humble, trusting and merciful unless you are willing to change your life completely.  That may seem frightening at first.  Nevertheless, making the frightening choice to embark on the path to radical holiness is not only for the great saints, it is a choice that the sinner must also make. 

The path to holiness begins by embracing and living the virtues of humility, trust and mercy.  From there, the humble, trusting and merciful soul is capable of living sacrificially in that it is capable of uniting all suffering to the Cross of Christ to share in the good fruits of that sacrifice.  This book will begin by exploring these following three virtues as the solid foundation for holy and sacrificial living:

1) Humility: the virtue opposite to pride that enables you to turn your eyes from yourself to the Lord and upon others.  It enables you to become detached from selfish ambition and attached to selfless giving.  Humility opens the door to trust in your life because it enables you to turn to the source of all mercy with abandon and confidence.

2) Trust: the virtue that is greatly helped by a humble heart, in that the humble heart does not presume to rely upon itself for strength and mercy.  God is the source of everything that is good in life. Therefore, turning to Him with total abandon is the only way to obtain mercy.  Simply put, trust means one relies upon God for all things rather than oneself. 

3) Mercy: the result of humbly putting all one's trust in God.  Mercy first includes its reception from the Heart of Christ and then its distribution to others.  What a grace this is!

It is much easier to understand the beauty of humility and trust than it is to actually humble yourself and put your complete trust in God.  It is much easier to speak about mercy than it is to embrace and live it.  In fact, entering into these glorious virtues will be quite painful as the Lord strips away pride, selfishness, fear, doubt and many other vices. 

Once you are on the path to holiness and are seeking to live the virtues of humility, trust and mercy, do not be surprised if you are also invited to embrace a life of great suffering in a sacrificial way.  Think of Jesus.  He was perfect, yet the culmination of His ministry was death on a cross.  We are called to this same embrace of the Cross of Christ.

We ultimately become a Living Sacrifice of Love when every experience we encounter in life, be they joys or sorrows, are encountered with unwavering virtue as we live fully united to the Cross of Christ.  Obtaining this high ideal requires a wholehearted commitment to become more fully transformed into the persons God wants us to be.

Read this book slowly and take it one step at a time.  Stay with it, pondering the messages that are shared, looking into your own heart with honesty, and striving to change as you do so.  Take small steps and you will find yourself on the path to holiness and a life of radical transformation in Christ. 

The abundant mercy of God awaits you!  Receiving His mercy and becoming an instrument of mercy for others is the most glorious and satisfying experience you can have in life.  Commit yourself to the demanding path of holiness and you will be grateful you did for all eternity.

1

Making the Case for Holiness

Why would you want to seek holiness?  Moreover, what exactly does that mean?  On a theoretical level, becoming holy sounds intriguing, inviting, mysterious and admirable.  However, do YOU want to become holy?

Too often, when faced with that question, the first thing that comes to mind is, What will I have to give up?  Holiness is often seen in a negative way, meaning those who are holy are often seen as admirable people who have given up most of what is fun in life.

When you think of someone who is holy, who comes to mind first?  A famous saint?  A humble priest?  A cloistered nun?  A loving aunt or grandma?  Whoever comes to mind, they are often seen as good people we admire but have chosen not to imitate.  Why is that?

The goal of this first chapter is to make the case that holiness is something that you want to strive to attain.  In fact, it is something that you deeply want to achieve, whether you realize it or not.  No, achieving a life of holiness is not easy.  It’s not a life filled with doing what you want because you want to do it.  Goals like that are very superficial and are never fully achievable. 

We are all made with an innate desire for happiness.  The problem is that most often we become confused as to how we achieve the happiness we desire.  Some constantly dream of becoming rich.  However, think about it honestly.  If you won $100 million dollars, would that make you happy?  Perhaps that is hard to answer, because, on the surface, this may be very desirable.  Think about all you could do with such riches! 

The truth, however, is that all the money in the world will not make you happier.  There have even been various in-depth studies that have shown that people who win the lottery actually do not achieve a greater degree of happiness.  Sure, lots of money may relieve a certain amount of stress, make life easier in some ways and allow you to do many fun things.  However, at the end of the day, neither money, fame, prestige, success nor anything else this world holds in high esteem will make you happier in the truest sense.

Think also of the deception that fame will make you happy.  For example, if you were a famous actor, a powerful politician or a prominent entrepreneur, would your status equate to instant fulfillment in life?  Again, there will always be a certain level of satisfaction that comes with success and fame, but it is not very deep and will leave you wanting only more. 

Some years ago there was an interview written in a national paper with a very famous actress from Hollywood.  In that interview, the actress shared that she often goes back to her hotel room after large parties and suddenly finds herself feeling very lonely.  One would think that if you were a famous actress coming home from one of the best social gatherings in Hollywood you’d be feeling pretty good, not lonely.

However, happiness is not something that the world can give.  It never comes with riches, fame or worldly success.  It’s something much deeper and can be obtained by anyone.

Some years ago, a seminarian from the United States spent the summer in a foreign country learning the language and culture.  He spent one week in a very poor country village where many homes had dirt floors.  One day, one of the local farmers engaged the seminarian in conversation.  The seminarian had spent the week feeling bad about the poverty in which the locals lived, so he wasn’t prepared for what the farmer said to him.  The farmer looked at him, smiled and said, You poor Americans!  You have so many things and are always so busy with life.  Look at me!  I have everything I could want.  I spend the day with my sheep and in my fields.  I have a wonderful family and all that I could want.  The seminarian went away from that conversation surprised yet intrigued at how this elderly man pitied him for his material wealth and social status!

What is true happiness?  Simply put, happiness is holiness.  Holiness is the only way to complete fulfillment in life.  Nothing else can come close to satisfying the deep longing you feel in your heart.  As Saint Augustine famously said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in You, oh