The 5 Essentials of Christian Life
The five essentials are rooted in Sacred Scripture at the end of chapter 2 of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, especially in verse 42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)
Discover the main questions and answers around the five essentials, also called the five vitamins. At the end of this reading, we invite you to discover other great questions about christian life.
Prayer
What is meant by the essential of prayer?
The essential of prayer (also called worship) is to respond to the invitation from Jesus, who wants us to have a personal encounter with him, and to create a relationship of friendship.
How to live in the essence of prayer
The Church offers several ways to develop a life of prayer and intimacy with the Lord, such as:
Participating in Sunday and weekday Mass
The Sacrament of reconciliation
Praying the liturgy of the hours: for example Lauds or Vespers
Attending a prayer group
Prayer: a time of meeting in silence and interiority intended for a heart to
heart with Christ. We can initiate ourselves in prayer with the Saints of Carmel,
like Saint Teresa of Avila.
Lectio Divina: in-depth reading, the meditation on and the study of the Word of God. It consists of four stages: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio.
Eucharistic Worship is another way of contemplating Christ, with Him present, under the appearance of the consecrated bread (the Blessed Sacrament).
Other forms of contemplation to enter into prayer: the rosary, the veneration of the saints, the way of the cross, the ejaculatory prayers, which are very short prayers such as “I love you Lord”, “thank you Jesus”, etc.
Service
What is meant by the essential of service?
A disciple is called to give himself, in the image of Christ the Servant, who washed the feet of his disciples, and who did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).
When it is said that each baptized person is a priest, prophet and king, the word king refers to the royal office of service. How do we serve today in our Christian life?
How to live in the essential of service
The first place of service is in one's own family, as in the ability to give oneself to one's spouse, children, parents, etc.
In addition, the other places of service are generally your work environment, and in the other places of engagement (political organizations, associations, unions, etc.). Volunteering is also a way of living service.
Finally, in the Church, there are many possibilities for service, such as:
Taking charge of a responsibility in your parish (funeral, chaplaincy, liturgy, membership in a Council, etc.)
Carrying communion
Visiting the sick at home or in a nursing home
Fraternity
What is meant by the essential of brotherhood?
A disciple seeks to be fraternal, since he is called to love his neighbor, to imitate Christ who made himself the brother of all. How do we build fraternal relationships with others in our lives, whether in our work, in our families, in the community, in the Church, and in all our other commitments?
How to live in the essence of brotherhood
There are many ways to live brotherhood, such as:
Having chaste relationships, selflessly focusing on others first before thinking about your own interests
Developing your sense of listening in relationships
Having the ability to go to people you are less used to talking to: for example at the end of Mass
Seeking to develop fraternal relations in your parish, and ideally, towards the maximum number of people, and not only always towards the same
Taking care of absent or sick people
Participating in fraternal activities, whether in the workplace or in any other environment
Education
What is meant by the essential of education?
A Christian life requires a disciple of Christ to be trained to give an account of his faith, and to help keep the deposit of faith intact. This “vitamin” also requires one to be educated by the Holy Spirit so that it can teach all new things (John 14:26).
How to live in the essential of education
There are many ways to live in education, such as:
Reading the word of God (the Bible)
Studying the Bible
Learning the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Reading and discovering texts of the Magisterium, such as encyclicals and exhortations.
Participating in teaching or training organized by the parish or diocese
Participating in distance learning or training
Enrolling in course(s)
Participating in preached retreats
Watching Catholic media
Evangelism
What is meant by the essential of evangelism?
Evangelism is a call from Christ. Indeed, the four Gospels all end with an injunction of Christ made to the disciples to go on mission. For example, the penultimate verse of the Gospel of Matthew tells us: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
In addition, the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians says: “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). In addition, many texts of the Magisterium remind us that evangelism is not an option, but a duty. For example, Number 905 of the Catechism tells: “Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, “that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.” (No. 905). It is important to remember that this vitamin of evangelism is lived fully only when the person has personally met Christ, hence the importance of prayer. Indeed, there is no mission or evangelism without contemplation (prayer).
How to live in the essential of evangelism
How can we evangelize? It is up to everyone to find the answer according to the reality of their own life, in the environments to which they are sent (their family, their work, the community environment, etc.)
There are many ways to participate in the mission of evangelism, such as:
Witnessing the Gospel in your immediate environment: work, family, community life, etc.
Announcing the kerygma
Developing the ability to testify
Studying the mission
Developing the ability to invite: for example, to invite a person far from the Church to it
Distributing a missionary journal
Getting involved in evangelism within your parish to reflect and try to reach those who live in the geographical territory of the parish, and who are far from the Church
We invite you to learn about ways to live the 5 essentials in your parish. For those who wish, there are questionnaires, easily found on the internet, to assess your level of commitment to the five essentials of Christian life.
Let's implement the 5 essentials in our Christian life with Hozana!
Let's implement the 5 essentials in our Christian life with Hozana! We propose that you first live out that of prayer, which will make it easier for you to live the other four “vitamins.” For example, we offer communities to receive a different prayer every day, to pray every other day with your guardian angel, readings of the day's Gospel, retreats, and novenas.
