“All Christians in any state or walk in life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” ^LG  “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ^{Mt 5:48}  God wants us to be holy.  One must try to sanctify oneself in one’s place within the Church of Christ.

“[Lay Christians] live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven.” ^LG

“By their very vocation, they seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.  They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations.” ^LG

“Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared, so that ever richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them.  For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit – indeed even the hardships of life, if patiently borne – all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord.  And so, worshiping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.” ^{CCC 901}

“Priests will acquire holiness in their own distinctive way by exercising their functions sincerely and tirelessly in the Spirit of Christ.  “Since they are ministers of the Word of God, they read and hear every day the Word of God, which they must teach to others.  If they strive at the same time to make it part of their own lives, they will become daily more perfect disciples of the Lord….” ^PO

In order to sanctify ourselves in the ordinary circumstances of our life, we need to grow in our spiritual life, especially through prayer, self-denial, and work.

Life of Prayer

“We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us.” ^{CCC 2659}

“Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom reveal to ‘little children,; to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes.  It is right and good to pray so that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of history, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom.” ^{CCC 2660}

“But do not imagine that prayer is an action to be carried out and then forgotten.  The just man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.  Through the night, I meditate on you’ and ‘my prayer comes to you like incense in the evening.’  Our whole day can be a time of prayer – from night to morning and from morning to night.” ^CPB

Life of Self-Denial

“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross.  There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.  Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.” ^{CCC 2015}  “Without mortification there is no happiness on earth.” ^FW

“Let us listen to our Lord: ‘ He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is dishonest also in much.’  It is as if he were saying to us: ‘Fight continuously in the apparently unimportant things which are to my mind important; fulfill your duty, punctually; smile at whoever needs cheering up, even though there is sorrow in your soul; devote the necessary time to prayer, without haggling; go to the help of anyone who looks for you; practice justice, and go beyond it with the grace of charity.'” ^CPB

Self-denial will be more precious if it is united to charity according to the teach of St. Leo the Great: “Let us give to virtue what we refuse to self-indulgence.  Let what we deny ourselves by fast be the refreshment of the poor.”

Life of Work

“Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another.  Hence work is a duty: ‘If any one will not work, let him not eat.’  Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him.  It can also be redemptive.  By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work.  He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish.  Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.” ^{CCC 2427}

“In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature.  The primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its author and its beneficiary.  Work is for man, not man for work.

“Everyone should be able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family, and of serving the human community.” ^{CCC 2428}