A Crisis of Holiness

Recent scandals among some of the Cardinals and Bishops in the Catholic Church have left many Catholics angry — angrier than I have seen faithful Catholics in a long time.

We should be angry and we need to be bringing these things out into the light.

We also need to move beyond discussion and do our part to right the wrongs –and that is going to look different for each one of us.

I have to admit, some people’s reactions have worried me a bit — only because I have seen a subtle attack on the authority of the Church that has little to do with solving these problems.

I agree action is important, but let’s make sure it is the right action.

Let us be careful that we don’t find ourselves fighting the God-given authority of the Church while we are attempting to fight the injustices of some of those who are in authority.  This is an important distinction.

That being said, this doesn’t let us off the hook for doing our part.  I don’t know about you, but in our house, everybody participates in the big house cleanings — it should be the same for the housekeeping that has to happen in the Church.

We all have a part to play in cleaning up the house of God.  

Let us not forget the the Catholic Church is not the possession of the Cardinals, Bishops or priests who have done evil or allowed evil to continue — it is Christ’s Church — and we have a duty to stay and do our part to clean up our Father’s House.

I have no idea what exactly that is going to look like for you, but God does.  He has a plan for you in this time, in this moment in the Church, and the only way you are going to know your part is to pray and ask Him to reveal it.

Now more than ever, we need to support the good priests, bishops and cardinals and demand that those who committed evil acts or allowed evil to continue be removed from public ministry.

We must demand a greater accountability and transparency in the Church — and we must do all of this, while respecting the God-given authority of the Church.

This is not an easy line to walk, but it is entirely possible with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Pope St. Gregory used to describe Himself as the “Servant of the Servants of God”.  He knew his “job” and the bishop’s “job” was one of service to the people of God.  Let’s bring that title back to the Church.

We need a return to the real purpose and mission of our Church hierarchy: one of service to the people, not the other way around.

Jesus made it very clear that those in authority in the Church are not meant to lord that authority over others — but rather, to use that authority to serve the needs of the people.

We have witnessed selfish “princes” in our Church doing selfish and evil things.  It must stop.  They need to step down.

They need to make way for the good and holy servants that are already within our church.  We need to raise up, once again,  true princes of the Church who will behave as they ought to behave:  like Christ Himself.

Let’s not lose sight of the real crisis here: we are experiencing a crisis of Holiness.  

We need to remember the call that Christ has placed on our heart to live heroic lives of virtue.  We can not expect anything in the Church to change unless we begin to take this call seriously and demand the hierarchy does the same.

That call to Holiness should be exemplified in Church leadership — but it can not end there.

I don’t know about you, but I love to be comfortable and to just get along with people — but if the past weeks have taught me anything, it is that I need to say “to Hell with comfort, to Hell with just getting along”.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s time to get serious about becoming a Saint.

Let us not forget that the devil wants us to stay comfortable and to not attempt the hard thing that is before us, but love demands that we throw comfort out the window and begin to live lives that are heroic and courageous.

Real love is being courageous enough to tell somebody the truth because we want them to make it to Heaven.  Real love is doing the hard and uncomfortable thing because otherwise sin and evil will prevail.

So where do we begin?

We begin with ourselves.  If you aren’t praying every day.  Begin today!  Here’s a post I wrote about how to begin.  

If you are praying, ask God what more He wants of you and then do it.

Let’s go to Mass as often as we can and let’s make sure we continue to purify our own hearts through confession and a firm amendment to try to change.

It is only in prayer that we will know what God is asking of us.  It is only in prayer that we will find the strength to do that thing, even if it terrifies us.

Maybe you are thinking, “Well I am just a nobody.  What could I do?”

You rebuke that lie right now. God doesn’t make nobodies.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made!

He made you to be a Saint.  He made you for holiness — to love heroically and maybe even to give Hell to those who need a wakeup call before they find themselves headed down the slippery slope of death and destruction.

I guess what I’m saying is that God made you for a time such as this one and He’s given you all you need to live a life of heroic virtue — to become a saint.

The beauty of the saints is that long after they have gone, their influence is still felt in the Church and in the world.

If you have read any of my travel posts, you know that we always try go to places where we can visit the places where the Saints lived among us.

I can tell you one thing that has struck me about the places, over and over again.

The places where the Saints walked are Holy Places.  Not necessarily because of them, but because of the God who lived and breathed in them.

Their presence has, in some mysterious way, sanctified the streets and hills and churches they inhabited.

That is what a Saint does: they allow themselves to be transformed by God’s grace until they truly become His love and mercy and power in the world.  Let’s allow him to do that in our lives!

I can remember being so weary after an epic trip to Italy, and then palpably feeling the peace as I walked the streets and the churches where St. Francis and Clare lived.

How is possible that 800 years after they walked those streets, I could still feel their influence?  If that’s not a witness to the lasting effect of a Saint, then I don’t know what is.

I remember sitting in the room were St. Francisco died in Fatima.  It was a moving moment for me.  I can’t explain it but to say that this little boy allowed God to live within him in a powerful way, and I felt God’s presence when I visited that place.

A Saint died in that spot, and believe me, I could feel that power of that young boy Saint.

I remember being worn out from the mishaps of family adventures as we were in Lisbon and feeling the grace and renewal of visiting a  church that stood over the place St. Anthony was born.

I wondered then why God allowed me to feel His presence in that place, but looking back, I believe He wanted me to experience the power that one person’s abandonment to God can have in the world.

And we can’t forget St. Catherine of Siena, who was a lay person (Contrary to popular belief, she was not a nun). This lay person wrote influential letters to the Pope and eventually she even went to Avignon and convinced him to bring the Papacy back to Rome.

I am sharing this because your life can make a huge difference in this world!

One holy man or woman or child can change the course of history and can do much to right the wrongs around them.

God moves powerfully through the Saints, so let us strive to become Saints as we work for reform around us.

I know it sounds like an impossibility — you or I becoming a Saint — but that is exactly what God needs us to be for the world and for the Church.

For us, it’s impossible — but for God?  All things are possible!

What are we waiting for?  Let us begin.

 

 

Sharing over at Kelly’s