Pope Pius XI in his encyclical on education tells us: "Hence the true Christian, product of Christian education, is the supernatural man who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ." If we wish to be truly Christian we must transform ourselves into supernatural men; we must be Christ-like.

But in order to do so we need to have an understanding of what it means to be Christ-like. What are the specific qualities or traits of the supernatural man? We may speak about Christ’s kindness, mercy, goodness, love, but how many people truly regard Christ as the model for their daily living? There is no doubt that for Catholics the devotional, liturgical and sacramental life of the Church reaches to a greater or lesser extent into our lives. But it would be a mistake to imagine that the acquisition of the virtues of Christ may be left simply to the devotional side of Catholic life. Likewise in our catechism, we may have learned the doctrines of Christ but can it be said that we learned Christ?

For too many Catholics the faith is like a book which they take off the shelf on Sunday, blow the dust off, maybe read a few lines and then return it to its special place for the rest of the week. Their faith and their daily lives never really coincide. They may see Christ going up the steep and narrow path to the mountain of perfection, but they are unwilling to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow His step by step approach. They are content to watch Him from behind never seeing and getting to know His face and therefore never really knowing Him. Pope Pius XII tells us that one of the chief causes for the current neo-paganism is "the frightening ignorance of Catholics in matters of religion." If this was true at the time of Pope Pius XII how much more so today. We know Christ by faith. Therefore our first transformation into Him must be by learning the truths of the faith.

However to become Christ-like the knowledge of religion alone does not suffice. Too often this knowledge is limited to abstract and not real knowledge. Dogmatic definitions and doctrine should be memorized but it is hard to imitate a doctrine or definition. Too often there is knowledge of the hypostatic union without ever seeing the reality of the hypostatic union. It is true that we live by faith, not by sight. But God saw to it that the picture of Christ be given to us and preserved for us. In school our children may learn what faith is, but they seldom have Christ presented as asking them to have faith in Him. The knowledge they are given remains only in the intellect or in the memory for the purpose of examination but it never moves into the will to stir it to action. It never becomes that real living knowledge that comes from seeing Christ live His life. Christ did not say: "Learn about me." He did say: "Learn from me." We have in Christ a concrete personification of what the supernatural man should be like. So if we wish to know what the Christian virtues are or what the supernatural man is like we have merely to examine Christ. We must look at Him, study Him, meditate on Him. The more we have faith in Christ and live in Him the more we transform ourselves into Him. "Let it be our greatest occupation to meditate upon the life of Jesus Christ" (Imitation of Christ, I; 1). We will thus take the facts and realize their importance in our daily lives and Christ’s example will reach the whole man – intellect, will, emotions. Pope Pius XII in Mystici Corporis says: "Let those who glory in the name Christian all look to our divine Saviour as the most exalted and most perfect exemplar of all virtue."

Unfortunately we must battle against that human laziness which is present everywhere. The main problem is in the will —a problem of doing. St. Paul expresses this to the Romans (7,18): "Praiseworthy intentions are always ready to hand, but I cannot find my way to the performance of them." The intellect must be formed but even more important is the formation of the will. Pope Leo XIII once wrote: "And this is likewise a need which is innate in the very nature of the child and the peculiar conditions in which we live. On no account may we call down once again on the child the judgement of Solomon, and split him by an irrational and cruel rupture of intelligence and will: while the former is to be taken in hand and cultivated, the latter must be prepared so as to practice virtuous habits and attain the final goal. Anyone educating the young who neglects the will, concentrating all his efforts on the cultivation of the mind, makes instruction a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked" (Letter In mezzo, June 26,1878 —to the Cardinal Vicar).

We must also develop Christian habits. Such things as habit of prayer, frequentation of the sacraments and virile practices of devotion especially towards the Blessed Virgin Mary. Solid personal piety must be developed and a proper balance established between obligatory practices and practices that are a matter of personal choice. In this regard Pope Pius XII said: "Even in the exercise of piety there must be a proper balance so that they will not become an insupportable burden or distasteful. Deplorable results have often been noted from imprudent zeal in this matter. Students have been known to give up their most elementary Christian duties such as assistance at Sunday Mass once they left the Catholic school in which were required practices that might have taxed a seminarian. We should most certainly help and encourage young people to pray but let us do it in a way that prayer will become for them a response to a need of the soul" (April 20, 1956).

Another important aspect in the formation of the Christian is the atmosphere. Education as a whole and especially religious education is primarily a question of atmosphere. Especially for children, whether at home or in school, the atmosphere helps to make religion a vital factor in their lives and helps them to accept religious practices willingly. Christian habits must be presented as a program for imitating the virtues of Christ rather than as a body of restrictions which only arouse rebellion. The emphasis on true love of God must be brought into relief. Only from the point of view of love will the commandments and laws be accepted as a means of advancing freely and spiritually towards God. If the atmosphere does not present these things and conform to the requirements of Christian morality, especially regarding charity, the children will not willingly accept religious practices.

It is also very important that the atmosphere in the home and school coincide. The harm done to souls by the lack of morality in many schools, both public and so-called Catholic, today is treacherous. Yet even more deadly is the harm caused by an irreligious atmosphere in the home. Many Catholic homes have allowed the dangers of the modern world to creep in. Television, modern music, video games and a variety of other virtual worlds of pleasure, convenience, impurity and softness have been allowed to corrupt the minds, wills and affections not only of the children but also of the entire family. In such an atmosphere love of God grows cold and eventually is lost and any Catholic education which seeks to train their minds, wills and affections will be hard pressed to influence them. In his Radio Message for the "Mothers’ and Childrens’ Day" January 6, 1957 Pope Pius XII said: "We would like to exhort fathers and mothers to realize the importance of their calling and to use their authority effectively, to teach the child with wisdom and moderation, to dominate his instinctive tendencies, to stimulate his good will, to awaken his intellect and affection and to transmit to him the precious inheritance of the most beautiful and elevated traditions of human and Christian culture."

To become supernatural is certainly not easy for any of us and in fact is impossible without God’s grace. But we must make an effort to do our part by self-denial, taking up our cross and following Christ. In this struggle let us not forget to also imitate Christ by our devotion to His Blessed Mother Mary. She knows the way of the Cross and will assist us to follow her divine Son.

Let us therefore take courage and have no fear since, as St. Paul says: "He will not let us be tempted above that which we are able", and we "can do all things in Him who strengthens us". By thus striving we can make up, according to St. Paul (Col. 1, 24), what is wanting in the Passion of Christ not only for ourselves but for other souls in want.

Especially as we approach Holy Week and Easter let us "so run, not as at an uncertainty" nor "fight, as one beating the air" but let us run so as to receive the eternal prize of Heaven, which we will do only if we become Christ-like.