The Bishop Writes

(From the Aug. 2, 2001 edition of the Inland Register)

Not infrequently people look at certain states of life as more holy than others. For example, the life of a monk might be considered to be more holy than that of a mother in the home. Of course, that’s not necessarily true. As a matter of fact, common ordinary circumstances of life provide unusual opportunities for spiritual growth and witness. Anyone in priestly ministry will quickly tell you that.

A short time ago I came across an interesting story about a priest who was vacationing in Ireland. He decided to go out for a walk in the countryside when suddenly a rain squall came up. He found cover in a roadside shelter along with an elderly gentleman who also was out for a walk. After a few minutes, as the rain continued, the man pulled out from his pocket a well-worn prayer book and began to pray. The priest commented to him that he must be a very holy man. The older gentleman replied, “Well, yes, actually the Lord is quite fond of me.”

That sense of relationship with God in the ordinary daily life of people stands as a great witness of the loving presence of God and one’s fidelity to that presence.

Not so long ago I read a small booklet by Robert Weeks, titled “Touching the Holy.” He begins by discussing the witness of the early desert fathers and mothers going out into the wilderness to find themselves and to forget a world that divided them from themselves. There is much written today about our divided hearts. We need constantly to address the quality of our holiness, name our sinfulness, and search for conversion of heart as a remedy to this division.

In his book, Weeks speaks of the great opportunities for holiness in the ordinariness of our lives, but also talks about the threats that can damage those opportunities. He lists primarily three threats: The first is projection of blame on others. Finger-pointing in our society can be a terrible affliction. It’s someone else’s problem or responsibility. We forget to look at ourselves and claim what is really going on in our own spiritual journey. Weeks makes the strong comment: “Unless we face our projections, our personalities are like well fortified cities in which most of our efforts are expended on exterior fortification with little left to feed the life within.” There is scant self-respect or self-esteem.

The second threat to holiness in daily ordinary living is the human tendency toward callousness or deafness to the word of God. St. Paul reminds us that the word of God is like a double- edged sword, cutting both way in our lives: “Indeed, God’s word is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates and divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12+).

In 1995, Pope John Paul II issued the powerful encyclical That They May Be One. This radical call to conversion in relationship to our brothers and sister in other faith communities challenges us to take the words of Jesus to heart when he prayed for unity (John 17). Those words in Scripture have been with us from the earliest days of Christianity but only recently have we begun to appreciate their significance, challenge, and command. For all of us, there is the opportunity to grow in the knowledge of Scripture and to make more the word of God a part of our daily living. All of us have our blind spots regarding the contradiction between our actions and God’s word. Everyday provides ample opportunity for review and reflection.

The third threat Weeks mentions is duplicity in our lives — the temptation to unconsciously compromise with secular values which are contrary to the Christian way of life. I’m reminded of the old story of the appropriate way to cook a frog. If one throws the frog into a pot of boiling water, he will quickly jump out. However, if the frog is placed in the water and it is gradually heated, he is not alarmed and the obvious will happen.

Cultural values that are contrary to the Gospel and Church teaching can gradually lure us into a different space in our lives that clearly is contradictory to Christian witness. All of us must be careful of duplicity on our spiritual journey.

The Lord Jesus calls us to be holy people right where we are, everyday. Our daily living provides ample opportunity to be good people, to be a light of Jesus’ presence in the world. May the Lord bless us and give us wisdom in this holy quest.

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