Sunday Reflections

“Everyone Is Called to Holiness”

Today we celebrate the lives of many who responded to the Church’s call to be holy. St. Teresa of Avila reminds us of the connection between action and holiness when she said that there is no better crucible for testing holiness than compassion. Rightly so, we often associate holiness with people like the apostles St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Mary Magdalene, early Church Fathers such as St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine and St. Jerome, saints of the Middle Ages such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and more modern saints such as St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II. It is easy to see them as examples of what it is to be holy and saintly.

In addition to these stories of “official” saints, the Church is also filled with other examples of holiness among its most unknown and unheralded members. Over the years, I was most inspired and encouraged to strive for holiness in my own life when at St. Bernadette Parish, during the first Sunday of the month, married couple after married couple stood up and announced the date of their anniversary and the number of years that they had been married. The announcements of “Two years on the 15^th of the month!” and “Five years on the 3^rd of the month!” were met with applause for these married couples who have only begun their journey of becoming one. There was greater applause for those who announced, “Twenty-five years on the 30^th!” and “Thirty years on the 12^th!” for we know that they had learned what it means to be together “in good times and in bad times, in sickness and in health.” But there was a sense of reverence and awe when more elderly couples stood and—with justifiable pride—announced, “Fifty years on the 6^th!” and “Sixty-two years on the 18^th!” We recognize that their holiness is radiated through a commitment over time of mutual service and sacrifice for each other and for their children and grandchildren, their friends and neighbors, their fellow parishioners and those in need. Their lives tell the stories of people who have, over the years, been shaped by God’s Word, the liturgical action of the sacraments, and the service that they have provided for those in need. Although still flawed and sinful people, these experiences have conformed them to be more Christ-like, helping them to see as God sees. Most likely, they will not be canonized as official saints in the Church, but their lives provide us with concrete examples of charity and justice.

We are all called to a life of holiness. With a keen eye will see evidence of this holiness in the lives of the ordinary people around us.