Hidden Ordinary Holiness
See also Holiness
Holiness in Ordinary Life
Jesus gives meaning to our ordinary daily life.
-Decree on the Apostolate of the Lay People -Apostolicam Actualitatem #4
Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate. Clearly then, the fruitfulness of the apostolate of lay people depends on their living union with Christ; as the Lord said himself: "Whoever dwells in me and I in him bears much fruit, for separated from me you can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). This life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is maintained by the spiritual helps common to all the faithful, chiefly by active participation in the liturgy.[8] Laymen should make such a use of these helps that, while meeting their human obligations in the ordinary conditions of life, they do not separate their union with Christ from their ordinary life; but through the very performance of their tasks, which are God's will for them, actually promote the growth of their union with him. This is the path along which laymen must advance, fervently, joyfully, overcoming difficulties with prudent patient efforts.[9] Family cares should not be foreign to their spirituality, nor any other temporal interest; in the words of the apostle: "Whatever you are doing, whether speaking or acting, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Col. 3:17).
Holiness in Ordinary Life
Pope Francis, Interview published Sept 19, 2013
I see the holiness in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity. I often associate sanctity with patience: not only patience as hypomoné [the New Testament Greek word], taking charge of the events and circumstances of life, but also as a constancy in going forward, day by day."
Holiness in Ordinary Life
Pope Francis, Dec 2014. More on holiness /Full text / Spanish
"Let us consider the smallest… the sick who offer their sufferings for the Church, for others. Let us consider so many of the elderly who are alone, who pray and make offerings. Let us consider so many mothers and fathers of families, who, with so much effort, raise their families, educate their children, carry on their daily work, bear their problems, but always with hope in Jesus, who do not strut about, but do what they can."
They are "the saints of daily life"
"Let us consider so many priests who are not seen, but who work in their parishes with such love: [doing the work of] catechesis for children, care of the elderly, of the sick, the preparation of new spouses… and every day the same, the same, the same. They are not bored because their foundation is the rock. It is Jesus, it this that gives holiness to the Church, it is this that gives hope!"
"We should think about so much hidden holiness there is in the Church"
The Hidden Force
The hidden life is the hidden force when lived in union with Jesus hidden in the Eucharist. In the hidden life is found the power of God that transforms the world. Then, when we give ourselves we are giving Christ.
Holiness is tied to little gestures.
Pope Francis, Homily, Closing Mass, World Meeting of Families. Philadelphia, 9/27/2015. >>>
Faith opens a ‘window’ to the presence and working of the Spirit. It shows us that, like happiness, holiness is always tied to little gestures. ‘Whoever gives you a cup of water in my name will not go unrewarded’, says Jesus (cf.Mk 9:41). These little gestures are those gestures we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they do make each day different. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children, by brothers and sisters. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to welcome life, and life to grow in faith.
Jesus tells us not to hold back these little miracles. Instead, he wants us to encourage them, to spread them. He asks us to go through life, our everyday life, encouraging all these little signs of love as signs of his own living and active presence in our world.
