Spirit of Truth, Home Edition > Grade 4 > Unit 7
Lesson 32: Saintly Dinner Party
The saints give numerous examples of just how rich and varied the call to holiness looks among the members of the Church.
The saints give numerous examples of just how rich and varied the call to holiness looks among the members of the Church.
Vocations, or calls to various states of life, are not something received only by a select few. Rather, God calls each and every one of us to be holy.
Living a life of holiness as a disciple of Christ requires us to live a life of witness to Him by sharing with the world our love for Christ by our words and actions.
The visible structure of the Church is a hierarchical communion: the pope is the successor to St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ, and bishops are the successors to the Apostles.
A vocation is God’s call to a particular and permanent state in life in direct service to another person or the Church. These vocations are marriage, ordained priesthood, and consecrated religious life.
A person prepares for a vocation of consecrated religious life by developing a habit of prayer, by receiving the Sacraments frequently, and by forming chaste relationships and friendships.
Everyone who enters consecrated life takes solemn vows that bind them to the practices of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in the imitation of Christ.
Discernment of a vocation to the priesthood requires that a man develop his relationship with God through prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments, the help of a vocations director, and typically six years of study including at a seminary.
The priesthood is a calling to serve the Church in imitation of Christ Himself, even to the Cross.
Discernment is the process for hearing and answering a call by God to some work or ministry and to our particular vocation.
Every vocation must be lived in communion with others because it is a sign of God’s love and mercy towards us.
The universal call to holiness is the vocation of every human person; God calls each of us to be holy as He is holy, that is, to be saints.
Every human person has an inestimable value in the eyes of God.
In this lesson we learn about the Sacrament of Matrimony in which a baptized man and woman are joined together in a holy covenant. Christ raised this covenant to a Sacrament in which the couple receives grace to love one another as Christ loves the Church: permanently, faithfully, and fruitfully. We will come to understand the signs and effects and the form and minister of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
In this lesson we learn about the Sacrament of Holy Orders, one of the sacraments directed toward the service of others. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is the continuation of Christ’s priesthood, which He bestowed upon His Apostles. We will come to understand the three orders of this Sacrament; the signs and effects of the Sacrament; and the form and minister of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.