The Stuff of Holiness

thought-for-sundayFrom the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 22nd April 2018

  

 

The following is just a brief summary of what the Tablet Magazine has to say about Pope Francis’ new document, ‘Rejoice and be glad’.

“Holiness has something of a bad name. It popularly means one of two things; either being so unworldly as to be hardly on the planet at all, or to have assumed an air of spiritual superiority that distains lesser mortals more subject to the temptations of the flesh. In his audacious new apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis has embarked upon a very personal definition of holiness that breaks through these blockages and turns these preconceptions upside down.
Most Catholics would shy away from imagining holiness either as applying to themselves or as a serious aim in life and are probably not comfortable with being thought of as “religious”. Yet the call to holiness is universal, and the practice of it should be as natural and familiar as any good habit. The parent who cares lovingly for a child, the carpenter who deftly repairs a damaged wardrobe, the owner of a business who behaves honourably and conscientiously towards their staff and their customers, indeed anyone who aspires to become the person God means them to be, is engaged in becoming more holy by virtue of it. Holiness is not remote from everyday life. It is the very stuff daily life is made of. Anyone can be a saint.
‘Rejoice and be glad’ is a remarkable document and could be regarded as this pope’s spiritual masterpiece. A thousand sermons could be preached on it and everyone in the congregation would instantly sense that the Pope is talking to them personally. But he does not shirk controversy. He identifies two skewed brands of Catholicism, which he calls Pelagianism and Gnosticism, which block the flow of grace and kill holiness dead even while claiming to be its defenders. These two ancient mindsets also happen to be apt descriptions of the ultra – conservative positions occupied by those who have been most hostile to his papacy. Francis is coruscating and relentless in his criticism of rigidity, legalism and traditionalism. They result, he says, in a “self-centred and elitist complacency, bereft of true love…”
This inspiring document should not be misunderstood as simply Francis’ response to his critics. Like all good spiritual writing, there are lines on every page that will make all readers uncomfortable. But Pope Francis clearly regards his job not only as comforting the afflicted, but also as afflicting the comfortable. At which he undoubtedly will succeed.”