Holiness

HOLINESS
If I were to say to you: “My dear Salesians! You are all called to be
holy!” I don’t know how many of you would respond to me, saying:
“You’re perfectly right, Father! I’m trying to become holy.” Instead,
someone might respond to me saying: “Holiness? Oh yeah, it’s a nice goal,
Father. But, it’s for a chosen few; not for me! It’s too difficult for me.”
Someone else might say: “Holiness? That’s for people who do not have
much to do, so they can spend a lot of time praying! That’s not my cup of
tea!”
And yet, God’s Word is absolutely clear: it does not allow for
exceptions. “Be holy, for I am holy!” Or, as St. Paul puts it, “This is the
will of God, your sanctification”.1
Why is it that so many people - also priests and religious - are

uninterested in holiness? The short answer is: Because they have all sorts
of wrong ideas about what holiness is.
- Some consider “holiness” to mean the ability to perform
extraordinary things. Saints are seen as superhuman beings with amazing
abilities, e.g. Padre Pio’s stigmata, miracles…
- Others take “holiness” to mean an extraordinary piety. A holy
person is seen as someone who prays a lot and is favoured with visions and
ecstasies, as was the case of St. Teresa of Avila.
- Still others take “holiness” to mean a life of austerity and
mortification, penance & fasting. Like St. Simon Stylites, who spent 37
years atop a pillar!
Actually speaking, all these astonishing examples are no proof at all
of a person’s holiness! Spending all one’s time praying in church or
speaking about God all the time is not a mark of holiness if one neglects
one’s duties at home, or gets angry with people who do not share one’s
views.
The witty Irish have a little poem which goes like this: To live
above with the saints we love, Ah, that is the purest glory; But, to live
below with the saints we know, Ah, that is another story!”
So, if holiness does not consist in extraordinary manifestations of

prayer, penance, etc., what is holiness? In Vita Consacrata, 30, the
1
1 Thess 4:3.
Church says that holiness “is the perfection of love”. Or, to turn it around,
love is the essence of holiness, i.e., holiness consists in loving, and loving
deeply!
Holiness is not the mark of extraordinary figures or miracle-
workers; those would be exceptional cases. Instead, all of us who live our
ordinary, everyday lives can be holy. In fact, we meet so many holy
people every day, starting from our own good mothers and grandmothers!
What is it, we ask, that makes us consider these ordinary people
holy? The answer is simple: they are people who are deeply in love with
God. No, they do not talk all the while of pious or religious things, nor do
they spend all their time in church or in prayer. But, there is something in
their lives - in the way they live and act and speak - that tells us of their
closeness to God.
For such people, God is not a distant figure beyond the stars. No,
he is experienced as someone who is most loving, most lovable and always
with them; they can turn to him to at any moment. Feeling so much loved
by God, they love him in return. And, to love God is: holiness! Holiness is
love!
At the same time, one cannot love God without loving all his
children. So, holiness consists in a deep love for God and neighbour. Look
at all the saints. Without exception, they were full of love for God and,
consequently, full of love for the poor, the sick and the downtrodden, i.e.,
for all mankind.
If, then, holiness is love, it goes without saying that anyone and
everyone can be holy. And Pope Francis adds: “each in his or her own
way.” In his Apostolic Exhortation, Rejoice and Be Glad, he says that he
likes to “contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God’s people:
in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men
and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly
religious who never lose their smile”.2
And he goes on: “To be holy does not require being a bishop, a
priest or a religious. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is
only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time
in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our
lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we
find ourselves. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living
2
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION Gaudete et Exsultate, 7.
out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and
caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you
work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the
service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be
holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a
position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and
renouncing personal gain”.3 In other words, for Pope Francis holiness lies
in the simple and humble tasks of every day, but done with much love for
God and neighbour.
And, Pope Francis proceeds to show how we can grow in holiness
through small gestures. “A woman goes shopping,” he says. “She meets a
neighbour and they begin to speak, and the gossip starts. But she says in
her heart: “No, I will not speak badly of anyone”. This is a step forward in
holiness. Later, at home, one of her children wants to talk to her about his
hopes and dreams, and even though she is tired, she sits down and listens
with patience and love. That is another sacrifice that brings holiness. Later
she experiences some anxiety, but recalling the love of the Virgin Mary,
she takes her rosary and prays with faith. Yet another step forward in
holiness. Later still, she goes out onto the street, encounters a poor person
and stops to say a kind word to him. One more step [in holiness]”.4
In recent times the Popes have canonized and beatified very many
people. St. John Paul II, in the 26 years of his pontificate, canonized 482
saints and beatified 1341. And Pope Francis, in the 6 years of his
pontificate, has already canonized 49 saints and beatified 107.5
Why so many saints and blesseds? we ask. A first reason - given by
St. John Paul II himself - is to remind us that the first service that we can
and must offer our mission is the sincere and constant search for our
holiness. To bear witness to the Gospel with authenticity, we must first live
it faithfully.
You will recall that, in the first 40-50 years after the Second
Vatican Council, the watchword in the Church and on the lips of all
religious, including ourselves, was evangelization. Today, since the start
of the new millennium, the watchword has changed; the new watchword is:
holiness. Our own experience tells us that our first and most effective
3
Ibid., 14.
4
Ibid., 16.
5
The numbers given are for the years 2013 – 2018.
way of evangelizing is through our own holiness. If our holiness is not
there, our work of evangelization is a lot of activities and hard work and
sacrifice, but it gets us nowhere. HOLINESS, as St. John Paul II said in
Novo Millennio Ineunte, is “A MESSAGE THAT CONVINCES
WITHOUT THE NEED FOR WORDS”.6
And the second reason for so many beatifications and canonizations
- again it is St. John Paul II who said it - is to remind us that in our own
day and age, holiness is possible in every country and culture, in every
situation and walk of life, in every age and temperament. “The ways of
holiness are many, according to the vocation of each individual... The time
has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of
ordinary Christian living”.7
And so, holiness is within the reach of everyone. As Pope Francis
reminds us, “Each one in his own way.” All that is required is that we put
our love for God into all that we do and say: that is the secret of our
holiness!
Q. Why is it that we priests and religious hardly speak of holiness?

Q. Why do we think that holiness is difficult?
Q. What will it take to convince us, priests and religious, of the
need to strive for holiness?
6
APOSTOLIC LETTER Novo Millennio Ineunte, 7.
7
Ibid., 31.

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Why is it that so many people - also priests and religious - are

So, if holiness does not consist in extraordinary manifestations of

Q. Why is it that we priests and religious hardly speak of holiness?

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