Gaudete et Exsultate
On the Call
to Holiness in Today's World.
‘Holiness
is a gift that is offered to everyone, no one is excluded; it constitutes the
distinctive character of every Christian’
Pope
Francis wants the whole Church to promote anew the desire for holiness – in a
practical way, for our own time.
After
analysing and forcefully dismissing two subtle enemies to holiness –
contemporary gnosticism and pelagianism – as ‘aberrations and obstacles’ to
holiness, Francis appeals in detail to the Beatitudes of Matthew and Luke. Here
lies the path to our happiness, or, indeed our holiness, by living out the
demands and joys of the Gospel. More deeply yet, the Holy Father identifies
those harmful ideologies which today strike at the heart of the Gospel, where
faith is divorced from deeds, where mercy is lost. Our striving for holiness
must be grounded in prayer and discernment so that our lives are transformed in
the light of mercy and grace. This entails action and building the Kingdom
through social action and care for the marginalised.
Pope Francis offers five
great expressions of love of God and of neighbour as signs of true holiness for
today’s culture. Finally, he sets out the landscape in which today’s spiritual
combat is fought against the great enemy, the devil. This calls for vigilance
and discernment. Thus, the joyful holiness of the Gospel is revealed to the
world in the everyday lives of ordinary people.
A5 Paperback,
72 pages