“VINCENTIANS ARE CALLED TO JOURNEY TOGETHER TOWARDS HOLINESS, BECAUSE TRUE HOLINESS IS PERFECT UNION WITH CHRIST AND THE PERFECTION OF LOVE, WHICH IS CENTRAL TO THEIR VOCATION AND THE SOURCE OF ITS FRUITFULNESS.”

– THE RULE, PART 1, ARTICLE 2.2

It is easy and natural to believe that being holy is reserved for those special few people whose lives are seemingly spotless. Within many Christian denominations, several of them are elevated as models of purity and goodness that are unreachable by the so-called ordinary person. However, this was never the intention of sainthood or the meaning of holiness. By creating unreasonable expectations of an elevated state of holiness, we can be deprived of the richness of that saint’s life, including their struggles, imperfections, and the realities of the communities that formed them. We also miss the ways in which they overcame those challenges in very human ways. We can miss the movement of God in all things. Holiness is the recognition that God is intimately aware of, and present in, our suffering and joys. This holiness, of unity with God, is part of our sense of growing in our wholeness.

Pope Francis, in Gaudete Et Exsultate, reminds us of this reality, “The Holy Spirit bestows holiness in abundance among God’s holy and faithful people, for ‘it has pleased God to make men and women holy and to save them, not as individuals without any bond between them, but rather as a people who might acknowledge him in truth and serve him in holiness’.”

Part of the challenge of our unfolding and maturing into holiness is to do so without judging it as incomplete or seeing ourselves as inadequate. The journey to wholeness to one that builds upon the good, rather than representing some sort of an arbitrary arrival at some distant point or destination. Often, the journeys to wholeness and holiness focus on the individualistic notions that parts of me that are good must be better, and all the so-called broken or wrong parts of me must be fixed. This is not the wisdom of the Christian biblical tradition. Paul, in one of his letters to the Corinthians, expresses the beauty of this journey to wholeness and holiness by recognising that the perfection of Christ is found in unity with each other, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” This unity is brought about by each of us bringing the totality of who we are, including our frailties as well as our abilities, in a loving relationship with others, without losing the sense of our uniqueness. There is a natural tension, and magnificent responsibility, in being the body of Christ and being a part of it.

A final word from Pope Francis: “And the Church is called to carry out her mission in charity, not pointing a finger in judgment of others, but – faithful to her nature as a mother – conscious of her duty to seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy; to be a ‘field hospital’ with doors wide open to whoever knocks in search of help and support; even more, to reach out to others with true love, to walk with our fellow men and women who suffer, to include them and guide them to the wellspring of salvation.”

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• How holy do you feel?
• How do you see your life as contributing to the holiness and wholeness of others?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 2, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill and James Hodge.