Hope in Holiness

Objectives

 At the end of the session, the participants are expected to:

1. To know that we are called to be hopeful in our life of holiness

2. To Appreciate God’s invitation to make us holy

3. To live out our covenant in being followers of Christ

Expanded Outline

I. Introduction

In MFC, we are always reminded that we are called to a life of holiness. This is not as a distant dream, but as a living reality through Christ. Scripture tells us to "be holy as your heavenly Father is holy" (Matthew 5:48). We have hope that this transformation is possible because Christ himself makes it achievable.

Yet hope without action remains merely wishful thinking. If we remain stagnant and complacent, clinging to passive hope while avoiding the challenging work of discipleship, nothing will happen. True hope for holiness requires us to become active followers of Christ, embracing both the promise and the process of transformation.

II. When Our Hope Stagnates

When we stagnate our hope for holiness, we rob ourselves of the very transformation we claim to desire. Here are three common ways we allow our hope to become inactive or stagnant:

1. When we settle in our Comfort Zone

We settle for surface-level faith that doesn't challenge our comfortable routines. We attend household, assemblies, go to Mass, say prayers, but avoid the deeper work of examining our hearts, confronting our sins, or making sacrificial choices.

2. When we think that it is impossible to be Holy

Instead of seeing holiness as a journey of growth, we view it as an impossible task. This leads to spiritual paralysis where we hope for holiness but feel too defeated to take concrete steps toward it.

3. When we do nothing to be Holy

Sometimes we are just too lazy to do our part. We wait for dramatic spiritual experiences or divine interventions while neglecting the daily disciplines, prayer, fasting and service. We hope for transformation but refuse to cooperate with God's transforming work.

If we stagnate our hope for holiness, nothing happens. We must do our part, partnering with God's grace through active discipleship. And this has been given to us during our covenant recollection. In the first point of our MFC covenant, we are all called to Live as a follower of Christ, by striving for Holiness and Christian perfection.

 III. Christ as my Hope for Holiness

The MFC Covenant calls us to be genuine "Followers of Christ." This isn't passive reminder but active discipleship. Jesus Christ is our hope and only in Him can we have Hope for our holiness. How can we remain hopeful for Holiness by following Christ?

1. Pray and read the bible daily

This is the first point under the first covenant. This is also an “all time” reminder for us. We cannot be hopeful if we are disconnected from the source of Hope. hopeful for holiness starts with an intimate relationship with God through prayer and reading the bible.

2. Strive for holiness and Christian perfection

A follower of Christ is a person who strives and grows in holiness. Faith alone is not enough (cf. James 2:17). So, we must act out what we have learned through our prayers and Scripture reading. It is now impossible to be holy, we have Christ and the Saints as our model.

3. Receive Sacraments regularly.

Let us make sure that we are doing our way in living a life of holiness. “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.” (CCC 1131). May this be a reminder for us to value and consistently receive the sacraments. 

The MFC Covenant reminds us that being a "Follower of Christ" is both our identity and our mission. We hope for holiness not as passive observers but as active participants in God's transforming work in our lives and in the world. Let us embrace this calling with confidence, knowing that our hope is not in vain. Christ showed us the way, and he walks with us every step of the way toward the holiness for which we were created.

Conclusion

Holiness is not a destination we reach through wishful thinking. Holiness is a journey we walk through faithful following. When we move beyond stagnant hope to active life in Christ, we discover that Christ doesn't just inspire our hope for holiness; he makes it possible through our cooperation with his grace.

Reflection Questions
1. In which areas of my spiritual life have I fallen into "stagnant hope"?

2. How can we as a couple move beyond passive hope to become more active followers of Christ?