Episode Transcript  

One

The Point of Being a Member of the Church

Do you have a gym membership, or have you ever been a member of a gym? Do you know what the purpose of having a gym membership is? Of course you do. The only reason to have a gym membership is to get in shape.

Now, at the end of the day, there’s only one reason to be a member of the Catholic Church, and that is to receive God's own divine life and be transformed by it, so that we truly become like Him through union with Him. Jesus came not just to teach or save from a distance, but to share His very life with us, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) St. John of the Cross expresses this mystery with bold clarity, “The soul becomes God by participation.” (Spiritual Canticle, st. 22)

This is what it means to get to heaven or become a saint, which means to allow God to share his divine life with you and by this means to transform you, to allow God to make you like Himself. That’s the point of the Catholic Church, and that’s the point of human life. But of course, you can have a gym membership and never actually get any more fit. You could just never go, or when you go, you don’t bother to do any exercise. In that case, obviously, your membership isn’t going to help you much. And the same thing happens with Catholics; they are very open about their membership, but they don’t put in any of the work or utilize any of the resources the Church offers.

So let’s talk about that now. What resources does the Church offer you in the pursuit of sanctity, in the project of becoming a saint?

Two

The Sacraments

The Sacraments are the most concentrated blasts of God’s divine life, of spiritual power you can access in your quest to become like God, to become a saint. The sacraments are combinations of words and material things, like bread, wine, oil, and water. And every time a sacrament happens, the Holy Spirit floods your soul with divine life to help you overcome sin and grow in virtue and love of God and neighbor.

Christ has entrusted these explosions of divinity, of Spiritual Power, to his Church. They give us the life and energy, the will, and the clarity to make serious advances along the spiritual life.

So are we going to confession often? At least once a month. Are we receiving the Eucharist often? Are we committed to living out the fullness of our baptisms, confirmations, and marriages? Because if not, then we’re wasting our very best opportunities for becoming a saint.

Three

The Church’s Moral Teaching

The second way in which the Church can help us be transformed by God’s life is through Her teaching. The Church’s moral teaching is precisely what tells us how to become saints. It tells us what we have to do, and it tells us what we must not do, based on the way we’re made and the plans God has for us. It’s the instruction manual for human existence.

In addition to the strict instructions, the Church also gives us countless exhortations, recommendations, and pious practices. It encourages us, as far as we’re able, to embrace lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It warns us against attachments to things that aren’t bad in themselves, but can be dangerously enticing. And it gives us spiritual practices, like the Rosary. And it gives us techniques for overcoming discouragement and distraction in prayer.

This isn’t the Church’s first rodeo. She has the human experience and the path to God pretty well mapped out. So are we learning from the Church? Are we letting her coach us towards the perfection of which we’re capable?

Four

The Other Members

One of the greatest gifts the Church offers us is the community of other members. And interestingly, other members in the Church actually help us in two ways.

They help us by being more advanced than we are. This is especially true of the saints in heaven, who give us the best examples and the most powerful intercession. It’s also true of holy people on earth, people we should all try to surround ourselves with. Holy people show us how to live the Gospel here and now, and live it courageously and to the full. Their witness and lives are beautifully infectious, and they can’t help but raise us up. 

But it’s also true that other Church members help us spiritually even when they’re less advanced than we are. That’s when they need support. That’s when they need us to be patient. That’s when they need us to help them not lose sight of what really matters. And of course, as any teacher or coach will tell you, nothing helps confirm the truth in yourself like trying to teach it to others.

So are we making the most of this community that is the Church?  Are we reading and learning from the lives and writings of saints? Are we becoming friends with them, asking them for help and guidance? Are we working on holy friendships down here on earth? Seeking people who can help us be better? Are we seeking out those who aren’t fully bought in, and helping them to go deeper? Because if we aren’t, there’s no way we ourselves will become as holy as God wants us to be.

Five

Set Ablaze by the Flame of Love

God is a consuming fire of love that wants to transform us. John of the Cross writes, “This flame of love, since it is extremely loving, transforms the soul in its love, and the soul becomes wholly love… just as a log of wood, when it is enkindled, becomes transformed into fire and has the same appearance and gives off the same properties as the fire itself.”
—St. John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, st. 2, para. 30

This is the goal of life. Not just to be saved, not just to be good, but to be transformed by the fire of God’s divine life and love, to be so consumed by His flame that, like a burning log, we ourselves become God, we become love. And this is what the Church exists to do: to set souls on fire.

The sacraments are where the divine fire is most concentrated. In confession, the flame burns away sin. In the Eucharist, Christ places the burning coal of His own love into you. The Church’s moral teaching doesn’t smother the flame, it gives it shape. It teaches you what must be cleared away so that the fire can grow. The community of the Church, the communion of saints, surrounds you like burning coals—encouraging, challenging, and igniting your own heart. The entire structure of the Church, its sacraments, moral teaching, and community, is like kindling arranged for one purpose: to make your soul burn with divine love.

So here’s the question: what’s holding you back from being set on fire? What sin are you clinging to like wet wood that resists the flame? What comforts are you protecting that keep you from burning freely? What fears are keeping you from throwing yourself fully into the fire of God's love? Jesus said, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49)
The Church is the place where that fire is kindled and you are meant to burn.

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• Make the most out of the community of the Church. Read the lives of the saints, get inspired, and build your friendship with them so that you can live out their example and ask them for their intercession.

• The Church is here to help us grow, but if we don’t turn to the sacraments, then we’re missing out on our greatest opportunities to become a saint. Find the time for confession and Mass this week.

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