I walk into a classroom with a Pepsi can and a Chalice. I pretend to be ready to pour Pepsi into the Chalice. I stop short of doing it and ask the students if this would be good or bad? They answer it would be bad and disrespectful, because the Chalice is sacred and the Pepsi is only ordinary. I teach them the saying, “Treat ordinary things in an ordinary way. Treat sacred things in a sacred way.” Then I ask them, “Which is more sacred, the chalice or you?” Seventh grade and under usually answer that the Chalice is more sacred, because it is blessed. I ask if they are blessed. They answer that they were blessed at Baptism. I tell them that the Chalice with its blessing cannot attain Heaven. “Can you?
They answer that with their blessing of Baptism, their destiny is Heaven. Then I ask them again which blessing they would rather have. They say Baptism. “Which is more sacred, you or the Chalice?” They will answer back, “But the Chalice holds the Blood of Christ.” I answer, “And what do you hold when you receive Holy Communion?—You hold the Body and Blood of Christ… Which is more holy?” They answer now that they are holier than the Chalice.
For Discernment: The main point is that if we are going to discern our vocation in Christ, we must have the starting point that we are sacred. We are called as sons and daughters of a loving Father. Only when I see myself as sacred can I truly begin to discern my Call and Mission.
Scripture: I Cor. 6.19-20: “You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within—the Spirit you have received from God. You are not your own. You have been purchased, and at a price! So glorify God in your body.” Col 3.10: “Put on a new man, one who grows in the knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator.”
See Appendix 2 for other topics to cover.
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