Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord Jesus, our Savior and our brother, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit out into each of our hearts right now. Renew us in the grace of our baptism, where your Spirit became one with us to lead us throughout the entirety of our lives. We ask that you stir up in us the grace of our confirmation, that we might be strong witnesses of your love in the world. We ask the intercession especially of our brother Saint Paul, who dwells among us each day here at this parish. May he who was inspired to lay down his life for you inspire each of us each day as we walk as your companions. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Saint Paul, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint Paul Lent Talk Series final slidesReview: The Structure of Saint Paul’s Theology
This is the last talk on moral transformation, and I want to start with the one slide, the one thing I want you to take away from all of these talks — the structure of Saint Paul’s theology.
The wrong understanding goes like this: we get our act together through moral transformation, so that we can receive the sacraments, so that we can be part of the Church, so that we can be saved. That is backwards. What comes first? The Lord saves us. He puts his life into us. Then he connects us to his body, the Church. He brings us into union with the Church so that he can feed us with the sacraments. And why does he feed us with the sacraments? So that we can be morally transformed. That is what we are going into today.
Saint Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” — transformed from glory to glory. But the transformation we are talking about is not simply stopping sinning. If that were all that moral transformation was, if that were all the Holy Spirit within us could accomplish, it would be so limited. The presence of the Holy Spirit actually enlivens us as Christians. That is the transformation we are talking about.
Outline for This Talk
First, how are we liberated from sin? That is the starting point. Then, what does a life in the Holy Spirit actually look like? How do the charisms empower us? Then, holiness — what we are ultimately moving toward. And finally, who cares? How does this actually affect daily life?
Freedom from Sin
Paul writes in Romans: “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Sin is not simply a violation of a rule. Paul talks about it as slavery. Sin is slavery — a type of slavery that wounds us, warps our nature, and makes us less than human. That is why the Lord wants to destroy it: because he wants us to be fully human, fully alive. He came to bring us life.
This freedom from sin is real and objective, and it was accomplished first at our baptism. At every baptism, there is still a prayer of exorcism prayed over the child: “Free this child from the grip of the enemy.” Each of us, when we are born into this world, is born in a state of original sin — belonging to the kingdom of darkness. We heard this in our readings: Saint Paul urging us to live as light, reminding us that we once lived as darkness, but have been saved, rescued, redeemed by Christ. So now live as the light that you are.
So we have to know this: sin no longer has dominion over us as Christians. So often we say to ourselves, “That’s just how I am. I have a hard temper. I’m stubborn. That’s how I’ll always be.” We are living as though we are still under the domain of sin. Christ has set us free so that we no longer have to say, “That’s just how I am.” We can say, “Christ is going to transform me. He has set me free so I can actually live differently.”
This freedom is not immediate, it is not magic. It is something we have to live into, choose, grow into. Saint Paul says in Romans: “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.” This presentation of ourselves is something we have to do day in and day out — bringing ourselves before the Lord, allowing him to continually free us more and more from sin.
Putting Off the Old Self, Putting On Christ
Paul writes in Ephesians: “Put off your old self and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
This is something the Lord is doing for us, yes — but it is also something we cooperate with, something we take up and put on each day. That is our Christian dignity: to choose, to exercise our wills. Strip off the old man and put on Christ. Paul says: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Who is compassionate, kind, humble, meek, patient? Christ. So he is calling us each day to clothe ourselves with Christ.
I think of Saint Bartholomew, who was flayed alive. Whenever I see those statues of him holding his flayed skin, I think: for him, putting on Christ meant that the old self was literally stripped away at his martyrdom, put to death definitively. And now he reigns in glory with Christ. For us too, there is a putting off — it is a difficulty, a dying to ourselves. Because that old person, that old life, constantly wants to reclaim us. But Saint Paul tells us: no. Put off the old man. Put on Christ.
And the moral life, understood rightly, is not a burden of rules but a vocation to authentic freedom — freedom for the good, not merely freedom from constraints.
The Mind of Christ
What are we putting on? We are putting on the mind of Christ. Paul says: “Have the mind of Christ among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” And: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Pope Benedict XVI wrote that Christian ethics flows from an encounter with Christ that changes one’s fundamental orientation, so that love becomes the organizing principle of all moral action. When we put on the mind of Christ, the question we ask when weighing a decision shifts entirely. It is no longer, “Am I breaking a rule? How far can I push the limit before it becomes a sin?” If that is the question we are asking, it is a sign we are not thinking with the mind of Christ — because the mind of Christ thinks in exactly the opposite direction.
The mind of Christ asks: how far can I go in self-sacrificial love? I want to lay my life down without limit, without restraint. Not: how far can I push until it turns into sin. But: how far can I go to lay down my life? That encounter with Christ makes love the organizing principle of all our moral actions. Is this a self-sacrificial act of love? Is this me acknowledging that my life is not my own, but I can give it away? When we think like that, the mind of Christ is alive in us.
Life in the Spirit vs. Life in the Flesh
Paul says: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” We want to live according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. But sometimes we wrongly think this means the body is a hindrance — that if we could just escape our bodies, we would finally be free. That is not a Christian way to think.
When Paul talks about life in the flesh versus life in the Spirit, “life in the flesh” simply means a life lived according to the things of the world alone. We know that the Second Person of the Trinity took on flesh, took on a human body. The body is good — absolutely good, destined for union with God. Not just our souls — our bodies are destined for glorification. Saint John Paul II taught that the battle is not against matter, but against disordered self-will.
When we are living according to the flesh, we have actually truncated ourselves. We have reduced ourselves to only being a body — thinking only about bodily needs, only about acquiring things in this world. But life in the Spirit is a life that is fully alive: body and soul together. Do we have to eat? Yes. Have you ever tried to pray when you are hungry? It does not go well. The needs of the body matter. A healthy, strong body helps us to think clearly, to love God. Life in the Spirit does not mean escaping the body. It means being fully and rightly human.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
How do we live a life in the Spirit? Through the fruits and the gifts. The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Who does not want all of these things? If we made a wish list of the deepest desires of our hearts — not the beach house, not the new phone, not even the excellent panettone — but the things we truly want: this is the list. When you see a person who is living by the fruits of the Spirit, that person is genuinely attractive. That person is alive. That is what we truly want.
The first thing to note about the fruits is that they are not an achievement, not something we earn. They organically grow from our union with Christ. The more we are united to Christ in prayer, in work, in conversation, in how we spend our leisure — the more these things simply start to grow within us. It is not, “I finally earned self-control.” It is: I am united to Christ, and so he is helping me to be self-controlled. I am united to Christ, and so he is slowly, slowly making me a peaceful person.
Love: The Root of All the Fruits
Love — agape — is the root of all of them. Paul says love is the fulfillment of the law. If you want one fruit above all the others, choose love. All the rest flow from it.
Joy and Peace: Eschatological Gifts
Joy and peace are what we might call eschatological gifts. The eschaton is the end of all things — when Christ will return, when everything will be brought into order. The fruit of joy and peace is a sign that we are already living in that reality in our hearts. The end has already come, in a sense, within us.
That is why, when causes for division are everywhere, we can live in peace. When crosses come that we must bear, we can bear them joyfully — because we already know with certainty that Christ is going to return and make everything right. Think of a person who receives a terminal diagnosis and says, “Thanks be to God. I can’t wait. This is my definitive cross where I get to enter into union with Christ and go forth from this world.” That is only possible as a fruit of the Spirit, a fruit of union with Christ.
Patience, Kindness, and Goodness: The Relational Fruits
Patience, kindness, and goodness help us to relate well to the people God has placed in our lives. Patience above all — this plagues all of us. Every conversation I enter, I already know exactly why the other person is saying what they are saying, exactly why they are doing what they are doing. I have it all figured out before they say a single word. So if you are at all like me, beg the Lord for the fruit of patience: actually listen. Try to understand. Receive what they are offering. Our relationships will become stronger for it.
Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control: Personal Integrity
Faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the fruits that build personal integrity. Pick one. Pray for it. These are not something we acquire by effort alone — they are given to us as we remain united to Christ.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Paul writes in First Corinthians: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The gifts listed in Romans and First Corinthians include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation, service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, and mercy.
Think about what you actually want. What is on the deepest wish list of your heart? These should be the things Christians are desiring. “God, please give me the gift of generosity. Please give me the gift of teaching.” These gifts, though, are never for self-fulfillment. Not a single gift God gives us is for ourselves alone — all of it is for the building up of the body of Christ.
So the question becomes: which gifts have I been given? And am I actually using them to build up his Church? If you are a merciful person, who in your life is in conflict right now? Go bring mercy into that situation. If you have the gift of discernment — if you see situations clearly and can act accordingly — how can you help your children do that? Your neighbors? All these gifts are for the body, not just for ourselves.
The Most Excellent Way: Charity
Paul writes: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” All the gifts — prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues — are good. But the most excellent way is simply the way of charity, the way of love.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux said: I cannot be a great saint. I cannot travel the world. I cannot do the wonderful things the great saints did. But what I can do is be love in the heart of the Church. Do little things with great love. And then that will make me great. She carried a small copy of the Letters of Saint Paul with her everywhere, constantly meditating on his teachings. She knew: the most excellent way is love.
Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that grace is nothing else than a certain participation in the divine nature. The charity within us flows from the grace the Lord has placed in our hearts. We are only able to love because Christ has placed his life within us. And what does this do? It heals our nature. It elevates us. It enables us to have supernatural virtue. Charity allows us to love as God loves — selflessly, sacrificially, continually.
Think of spouses you have known who have suffered together for years or decades, one caring faithfully for the other. Is that possible on your own? No. It is charity within the soul — the divine nature alive within a person — that allows someone to pour their life out for another, to sacrifice, to keep going. That is the kind of love at the heart of our faith.
The Universal Call to Holiness
This moral transformation is part of the universal call to holiness. Sainthood is not the exception in Christian life. It is the expectation. Paul writes: “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. This is the will of God, your sanctification.”
Every single one of us is called to be a saint. Not canonized, probably — our picture up on a wall somewhere, probably not. But does that make it any less dignified? Any less of a calling? No. Do not lower the bar for yourself. The question to ask in difficult moments is not “what do I have to do?” but “what would a saint do here?” That is why reading the lives of the saints matters — they show us concretely how to act, in difficult situations, with real love. And it is possible. No excuses.
Suffering and Hope
One of the primary ways most of us will be sanctified — the way we will grow in the fruits and gifts of the Spirit — is through being conformed to Christ crucified, risen, and glorious.
Christ saved us and rose from the dead not so that we could avoid suffering, but so that our suffering could be transformed — so that it can have meaning, so that it can work for the salvation of the world. Paul says: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” And then: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”
Suffering produces endurance: I can do this. Endurance produces character: I am the kind of person who can carry this. Character produces hope: I know that my strength is not enough, but God can get me through this. Knowing that one of the primary ways we become saints is through suffering — suffered well, with the Holy Spirit guiding us — should not bring us fear. If we are living by those fruits, if the joy and the peace are alive in us, then whatever comes, we can be at peace.
Practical Steps for This Week
Put On Christ Each Day
Please, for the love of God, do not let your phone be the first thing you reach for in the morning. Before you check anything, clothe yourself in Christ. Even before you open your eyes, say: I am putting the old self away. I am putting on Christ today. He will dwell in and through me. Help me to think with his mind, to see all things through his perspective.
Then reach for the phone. Then get up and get dressed. Because if you have done that first, then everything you encounter throughout the day begins differently. And when you get to 3 p.m. and you realize you have forgotten — before you go make that coffee, put on the mind of Christ again. “Lord, I am tired. Help me to think and see as you see right now.” Then go get the coffee. Then get back to work.
Reframe Your Suffering
Some of you carry very large crosses. For those: Lord, this is the cross you are asking me to bear. I am going to bear it poorly, but I will bear it with you. Help me to pick it up each day.
But it is often the small sufferings that get under our skin: the traffic, the homework battles, sibling arguments, financial stress, the pile of unreturned messages. In the spiritual life, these are not interruptions — they are the material of the spiritual life. When you are in the adoration chapel and you get a headache, the response is not “my prayer time is ruined.” The response is: Lord, I offer this to you. When the coffee pot overflows and makes a mess, the Lord just wants you on your knees in the kitchen, and he will meet you there.
Take Stock of Your Gifts and Use Them
Read through the gifts of the Spirit and ask: which ones has the Lord given me? And then ask honestly: am I using them, or am I letting them go to waste? Am I exercising them outside of my home, outside of the parish? Your gifts are not for yourself. Put them to work.
Move from Rule-Keeping to Spirit-Following
Allow your mind to be converted from a mentality of rule-keeping to spirit-following in your moral life. Stop asking, “Is this allowed?” Start asking, “What does love require here?” Then do that.
The challenging part — and the beautiful, creative part — of being a Christian is that it is not simply black and white, yes or no. It is: what is the Spirit leading me to? This is why there are a thousand different religious orders, hundreds of different ministries, this variety of fruitfulness in so many different directions. If we are only asking “can I or can’t I,” we are not asking the fundamental question: what does love require? What does the Spirit want me to do? Then go and do it. Be obedient to it.
Go to Confession
Penance services are coming up. Go to confession. If you have not been in a while, go. If you have been recently, even better.
When you examine your conscience, try something: instead of simply reading through the list first, stop and pray. Holy Spirit, help me to understand where I have given myself over to the evil one. Let that come to light. Then read through the list. Let the first question always be: where have I failed in love? Where was I called to love, and I said no? That is where to begin.
Also: if the examination of conscience you have been using feels stale, find a new one. Find one that asks specifically, “Where did I fail to love? Where was I called to love and I held back?” Let that be the lens.
Pursue One Fruit as a Family Each Month
Pick one fruit of the Spirit — just one — and make it your family’s focus for the month. This month, we will be gentle with one another. Or: this month, we will be kind in all our interactions. Or: this month, we will practice self-control when we are tempted toward the unnecessary and indulgent.
Do not try to live all nine at once. That is overwhelming. Pick one. See what happens. You have enough months ahead of you.
The Full Arc of the Series
Let me close with the full arc of what we have covered together. First, by grace through faith and love, Christ saved us — he broke into our lives when we did not deserve it, snatched us, claimed us. Then he built us up into the Mystical Body of Christ. He did not save us merely as individuals but as a family, bringing us into his family: the Church militant here on earth, the souls in purgatory suffering and being purified, and the saints in heaven glorified in Christ. All of us united — the connections between us would be an absolute beautiful mess if we could draw them.
And then, what does Christ do for the body? He gives us a participation in his life through the sacraments. Like a husband who pours himself out for his wife, Christ the Head pours himself out for the body. The body receives the nourishment. And why does he do this? So that we can be transformed. So that we can live as saints. So that we can live as the creative, beautiful saints he is calling each of us to be.
Remember that. That alone. God bless you.