Called to Be Holy
by Bishop Michael J. Sheridan
Among the many achievements
of Vatican II was the council’s
teaching on the universal
call to holiness. The teaching is
found primarily in chapter five of
Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church. We
could summarize the chapter in this
way: Because the Church is holy by
reason of her establishment by Christ
and the gift of the Holy Spirit, so
every member of the Church is
endowed with that same holiness
which belongs to the Church.
Holiness is first and foremost an
attribute of God Himself, who alone is
holy. In Baptism, God shares His life
and holiness with each member of His
Mystical Body. That holiness, which
is a gift, is at the same time a vocation:
a call to live out in the concrete
circumstances of our lives that love
and obedience which characterizes
the life of Christ Himself.
Time after time our Holy Father
has echoed the Council’s call to holiness.
In his 2001 apostolic letter
Novo Millennio Ineunte, At the
Beginning of the New Millennium,
the Pope wrote: “Holiness, whether
ascribed to popes well-known to history
or to humble lay and religious
figures . . . has emerged more clearly
as the dimension which expresses
best the mystery of the Church” (no.
7). Repeating the words of Lumen
Gentium, the Holy Father calls holiness
“a duty which concerns not only
certain Christians: ‘All the Christian
faithful, of whatever state or rank,
are called to the fullness of the
Christian life and to the perfection of
charity’” (no. 30).
That every baptized Christian is
called to be nothing less than a saint
is not a new teaching. Jesus Himself
calls us to sanctity: “[B]e perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt.
5:48). In most of his letters, St. Paul
addresses himself to those who are
called to holiness or who are holy. In
other words, the Apostle speaks to
the baptized as saints or saints in
the making. This is the message
throughout Christian history, and yet
it is surprising how many Catholics
hesitate when confronted with the
prospect of becoming saints.
Strive for Sainthood
At Confirmation Masses, I often
ask the young people whom I confirm
which of them aspires to sainthood.
More often than not they look
furtively at each other to see who
might dare to raise a hand. After
several seconds of waiting, a few
hands are hesitatingly lifted, but
there is usually a look of uncertainty
on the faces of those young men and
women bold enough to claim to seek
sainthood. For many Catholics,
becoming a saint is simply not on
their radar screens. For some it seems
pretentious—even presumptuous—to
confess that they seek after holiness.
It is at that point that I ask the
confirmandi to realize that there is
only one alternative to sainthood.
They get the point quickly and are
ready to stand among those who
would be saints.
Our Holy Father has brought the
universal call to holiness to the
forefront of his pontificate. The
extraordinary number of holy men
and women whom the Pope has
beatified or canonized testifies to his
belief that not only is the call to
holiness universal, but also, in fact,
many, many people have responded
to that call by living saintly lives. To
put this into perspective, it is interesting
to note that from the year
1600 until the pontificate of Pope
John Paul II barely 300 people were
added to the canon of saints. The
present pope has himself canonized
almost 500. His beatifications are
approaching 1,400. More than
2,000 other cases for beatification
or canonization are now pending.
Some Catholics have commented negatively
on the comparatively large number of canonizations
and beatifications that mark this present
pontificate. They ask: Doesn’t it in some way
lessen the significance of being raised to the
altar when so many are given this honor? Not at
all! Those who are considered for beatification
and canonization are still subjected to the rigorous
scrutinies of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints. Verifiable miracles are still
demanded as signs of favor from God. With his
frequent beatifications and canonizations, Pope
John Paul II is sending an important message to
all Christians: You, too, can be a saint! You, too,
must be a saint if you are to achieve the end for
which God created you!
Lay Witnesses
Until the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the
ranks of the blesseds and the saints were filled
mostly with clergy and religious: popes, bishops,
priests, and founders of religious communities.
Lay men and women were not to be found in great
numbers among the beatified and canonized of the
Church. There are, of course, notable exceptions.
There is St. Elizabeth of Hungary; wife, widow,
and servant of the poor. Also, St. Louis of France;
king, husband, and father. And there are others. By
and large, however, canonized lay men and
women did not abound.
The picture is very different now. Pope John
Paul II has beatified 215 lay people and canonized
245 lay people. This Pontiff has sought out
from among the laity men and women who have
lived particularly holy lives so that they might be
held up as models and encouragement for today’s
laity. He is pointing out to all that holiness is not
the prerogative solely of the ordained and consecrated
religious. Nor is holiness manifested only
in extraordinary ways. Many lay people achieved
holiness in the most ordinary circumstances of
life. The Holy Father recognizes so well that, if
our secularized society is to be brought back to
Christ, it will require the efforts of saintly lay
people willing to live the Gospel of Christ fully
and faithfully in the world. Recall the words of
Lumen Gentium, that the laity have the “special
task to order and to throw light upon these
affairs in such a way that they may come into
being and then continuously increase according
to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the
Redeemer” (no. 31).
A Plan of Action
While saintliness is to be achieved by all, this
does not mean that becoming a saint is easy. Just
the opposite. The road to heaven is still the narrow
one and demands that we be well-trained in the
ways of holiness. The lives of so many saints teach
us how to become saints ourselves. In addition to
the example of the saints themselves, the Pope
summarized the program for “training in holiness”
in his apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte.
First, the Christian life must be one distinguished
by prayer. Prayer is first of all an
expression of our total dependence on God and
His grace. There can be no growth in holiness apart
from that union with God, which is the fruit of
constant prayer.
Second, growth in holiness means regular
participation in the Eucharist, especially the
Sunday Eucharist. The Holy Father’s insistence on
this cannot be mistaken: “[Sunday Eucharist] is a
fundamental duty, to be fulfilled not just in order to
observe a precept but as something felt as essential
to a truly informed and consistent Christian life”
(no. 36).
Third, the practice of regular Confession is
essential. There can be no growth in holiness if we
are weighed down by our sins. So many people—
Catholics included—have all but lost the sense of
sin. The call to repentance and conversion by
means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a
constant reminder that our sins put us always in
need of God’s forgiveness.
The great company of saints in heaven are our
heroes in the faith. They inspire us to imitate them
and thus become saints ourselves. And let us not
forget that first among the saints of God is His
Immaculate Mother. Her role in the formation of
saints is described by St. Louis-Marie Grignon de
Monfort in his True Devotion to Mary: “Together
with the Holy Spirit Mary produced the greatest
thing that ever was or ever will be: a God-man.
She will consequently produce the marvels which
will be seen in the latter times. The formation and
the education of the great saints who will come
at the end of the world are reserved to her, for
only this singular and wondrous virgin can produce
in union with the Holy Spirit singular and
wondrous things.”
Queen of all saints, pray for us!
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