Called to Holiness, Called to be Saints

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses. ... (St. Pope Paul VI)

The central document of the Second Vatican Council was Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. The heart of this document is its teaching in chapter five that the call to holiness is not limited to any one state in life, but is indeed universal, embracing all baptized Christians. It consists in the perfection of that type of love called charity or agape. [See: Universal Call to Holiness]
 

Some 56 years ago, during the Second Vatican Council, the Church published Lumen Gentium (“the Light of Nations”), which reminded us what the Church has always believed and taught: “We are all called to holiness” or “We are all called to be saints!”

Do we take that call seriously? Do we believe it is possible to live a holy life? I know there are many who take this call seriously, and most are aware, like St. Paul, of how often we fall short in living out that call. At the same time, it is possible because with God (and his grace) “all things are possible.”

In these days ahead, as many celebrate All Hallows Eve aka Halloween, we remember that Oct. 31 is important only because it is the day before All Saints Day, Nov. 1. As we celebrate All Saints Day, to me the call to holiness, the call to be saints, is something that we need to think about and reflect on. We can ask ourselves, “Am I making an effort to hear, respond to, and live out the call to holiness? Do we realize that holiness is truly possible and know that it is a source of hope in the most challenging times and circumstances?

How do we know that holiness is possible? Just “google” Catholic saints (or Saint of the Day) and spend a little time reading and learning about the lives of the saints. You will see all the examples of extraordinary lives of holiness that have blessed the Church and the world these past 2,000 years.

I would like to reflect on two of my favorite saints to introduce or re-introduce them to you because I am convinced that they are shining examples of the witnesses of whom Pope Paul VI spoke, when he said, “modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than teachers…”

In October 1978, I was eight years old and it seemed to me that the most important thing happening in the world was that the Yankees were on their way to winning their second consecutive World Series. I would much later learn that something truly important was happening in Rome too. The Cardinals of the Church for the second time in two months were choosing a new Pope. They chose a Cardinal from Poland, Karol Wojtyla, who would take the name John Paul II. In his first homily, he said to the Church and world and, especially to youths, “Do not be afraid.” He told us, “Do not be afraid to live and share your faith in Jesus Christ.” I don’t remember the exact moment when I began to realize and appreciate and get to know Pope John Paul II. My earliest memory is my Mom (on Oct. 3, 1979 — I only recall the date thanks to Google), telling us that we could miss school because we were “going to see the Pope.” We saw him from a crowded sidewalk on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills as he drove by in the “Popemobile” on his way to celebrating Mass at Shea Stadium.

While those memories are a bit fuzzy, I remember very clearly the summer of 1993, when as a seminarian, I was in Cherry Creek Park in Denver for World Youth Day. In a crowd of nearly one million youths and adults at dusk on Saturday night, we were preparing to sleep in the park and attend the Papal Mass on Sunday. Two helicopters descended and word started to spread, “the Holy Father is here!” He walked out on the stage, in his white cassock to cheers of “John Paul II, We Love You; John Paul II, We Love You….” When he finally spoke in his Polish accent, he responded, filled with enthusiasm and joy, “John Paul II, he loves you!”

Pope John Paul II developed a friendship with then-President Ronald Reagan. They shared two things: they had both been shot and survived an assassination attempt and they both believed that communism with its atheism and materialism, was an offense to human dignity and freedom. They worked together and in 1989, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and communist Russia and the communist block crumbled as well.

The world would also watch as Pope John Paul befriended a religious sister known as Mother Teresa. She was called the “Saint of the Gutters” long before she was officially canonized by the Church on Sept. 4, 2016. I was just beginning to learn about Mother Teresa in 1989, when I met her sisters, the Missionaries of Charity. I was a college sophomore when I began volunteering at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in the South Bronx, run by these sisters. It was truly an eye-opening (and heart-opening) experience. As I watched the sisters in action and listened to them as they fed the hungry and welcomed the stranger, I began to learn what Jesus teaches us in the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, when he tells us, “… Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it for me.”

I believe this article will be a success if one person hears and learns for the first time the way in which St. Mother Teresa taught that caring for someone who is sick, hungry, poor, homeless, lonely (or all of the above) is an opportunity to care for and be close to Jesus himself. If you have read this far, you can probably tell that I could go on writing about these two heroic saints. I hope that I will be able to share much more as we go forward together, walking the journey of faith as a diocesan Church. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce these two saints, although I realize that for many of you, they need no introduction.

You can read the beautiful and eloquent words of Lumen Gentium and hear again that, from the moment of our Baptism and every day of our lives, whatever our particular circumstances, we are “called to holiness,” called to be saints. You can also see and hear what it looks and sounds like when someone discerns, responds, and lives out that call, if you get to know the saints, not only spending a few minutes with them, but also taking the time to get to know them.

I would like offer an invitation, especially for those who may not be familiar with these two saints, but also for those who know them very well. I invite you to spend some time with Ss. Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa. Thanks to Google, YouTube and Amazon, there is an abundance of resources that can bring us closer to these two and many other saints, their lives, writings, and inspiring witness to a life of holiness.

I would like to recommend a few particular resources for each of these two saints. To get to know or learn more about St. Pope John Paul II, his meditation on the 50th anniversary of (his) priestly ordination,” titled “Gift and Mystery,” is an intimate sharing of his vocation story.

Also, there is a vocation video produced in 2006 by Grassroots Films, called “Fishers of Men,” that has a beautiful, brief segment on St. Pope John Paul II. You can find it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjPBdEC7rg If you can’t watch the full 17 minutes, watch from 7:20 to 9:20 to see and hear a wonderful tribute to St. Pope John Paul II.

To get to know or learn more about St. Mother Teresa, I would highly recommend a documentary entitled, “Mother Teresa: the Legacy.”

Also, two books, “Come, Be My Light” and a more recent biography, “Mother Teresa, An Authorized Biography.”

There are also many opportunities on You Tube to hear and see both Ss. Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa speaking in their own words.

On July 1, when I was ordained and installed as the eighth Bishop of Paterson, I dedicated and offered my ministry to the intercession of our Blessed Mother and these two great, heroic saints. We believe that from the moment of our Baptism, we are called to holiness; we are called to be saints. Like all the saints, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa have taught and continue to teach us that despite our human weakness and sinfulness, holiness is possible and it is worth it to strive towards holiness. That striving can bring us incredible joy and peace and allow us to share that joy and peace with others because that striving brings us closer to Jesus.