The Christian community of St. Paul is constituted of baptized members.  Having said that, do you find the baptized members here ‘people of quality’?  Isn’t that the legacy that baptism offers us?  One recognizes quality by words and deeds.  In short, we can be judged by our patterns of words and deeds.  How do I measure up to the following?

1. Am I as good as my word?  Am I consistent with my promises and commitments?
2. Am I modest in word and vesture? Or am I flirtatious?
3. How do I handle my anger?  Can I admit when I’m angry?  Do I know how to
channel the energy of anger so that ‘innocent’ persons are not victimized by my reacting?
4. Can a person feel their reputation is safe with me?  Or am I a source of gossip?
5. Do I respect my sexuality?  Do I have measures of control over my urges
such that another person can know that s/he is safe with me?
6. Do I have a generous heart?  Am I generous with my income…willing to share
some of it for charity and church support?
7. Am I prayerful?  Is my prayer more than petitions to God?  Am I seeking a deeper
relationship with Christ?  Am I vulnerable to God’s prompting?
8. Have I forgiven another?  Have I let go of a grudge or revenge?  In striving to do so,
have I also not turned the anger of revenge toward myself (blaming)?
9. Am I willing enough to see others who are different from me as persons with dignity? 
Am I caught in stereotyping others?  Do I listen to the plight of others?
10. Am I joyful and peaceful?  My life can be full of challenges and distress, but this does not mean I cannot be peaceful.

How do I match up to these?  Baptism offers a relationship with Christ that is rooted in power beyond me.  Yes, this is the promise of the life of the Spirit.  When I cooperate with the Spirit I develop a persona, a habitus, a quality of living whereby I cannot not see the finger of Christ lurking around my struggles and the joy of Christ engaging my joy.  But none of this comes ‘just because I got baptized.’  Too many nominally-practicing Catholics have no clue about this.  In part it is because they have not touched the power of the life of Christ, or the power of the sacraments, or the power of service.

And to get in touch will all of this I must participate in the Christian life.  This is why Eucharist is frequent (at least weekly) and Reconciliation is like a spiritual oil change so that I can again move toward grace-full deeds and desires.  This is why some kind of regular daily prayer (I suggest starting with 6-minutes a day: read the psalm response of the day, then the gospel, meditate on the gospel for 3 minutes, then end with a Glory be to the Father…) is key.  I allow myself to be vulnerable to the promptings of the Spirit.  Do it daily…and in no time it is a normal part of my day, like breathing.

So as this new year begins, and the semester begins, so does “ordinary holiness” (as Fr. Rich calls this liturgical time).  Engage it.  For your sake, engage it.