November 17, 2014
As the light of day slowly ebbs its evening shadows out of our lives earlier and earlier, I was captivated by the light thrown on how to live our lives by artists who believe they have captured the thoughts of Pope Francis about holiness and have drawn up a list of the ten top steps to that goal. Is this the pope’s top ten list? In other words, did the Holy Father put his stamp on this list? I hardly think so. But I also believe the Holy Father has, in his words and actions since his election as pope, put the ten principles into action.
The pope’s first principle of holiness is:
1. Follow God with you whole heart, without compromise and without hypocrisy.
The rest are nestled in the first:
2. Get your sense of serenity from God’s love, not things.
3. Respond to evil with goodness.
4. Have a joyous, humble heart – don’t judge.
5. Follow the path of the beatitudes.
6. Always serve others.
7. Bear suffering and disaster without hatred.
8. Reconcile people; build peace.
9. Learn to suffer with those who suffer. Learn to rejoice with those who rejoice.
10. The saints are on the sidelines telling us, “Be not afraid.”
Whether it is still available or not, I was able to view the top ten list when writing this column. The top ten list with photos is on the USCCB web site. Carol Glatz was the producer of the short slide show with photos by Paul Haring and Bob Roller.
What’s clear to me in all of this is that the call to holiness is not something that we reserve only to those who are proclaimed saints by the Church. All of us, by virtue of our Baptism, are urged to recognize that we, too, are called to be holy. Sometimes a false sense of humility gets in our way. “Lordy, lordy if you only knew what I was really like, you’d never think that I could be holy.” I’m usually inclined to think that’s a dodge.
All of us are called to lead lives that imitate Jesus. That’s part of being a Catholic Christian. And if we are to imitate Jesus, and each of us has to determine what that means for us, then what is laid out as the pope’s top ten list is a way to go. Do you tackle all ten the same day? Of course not. But as you review the top ten, and find that you are already up to speed with some or many of them, you might want to pick one, concentrate on it for three or six months, and then move on to the next number of the top ten. You will find other principles that will help you to eventually come up with your own top ten list. That’s wonderful.
The point of all of this is to remember that all of us are called to be holy. The best way to achieve that holiness is putting our hands in the hands of the Lord and asking the Lord to guide us on our journey. The top ten list isn’t what’s important; holiness is.