So, you want to be a saint? Well, hang on, tighten your seat belt, and get ready for a bumpy ride! A life of holiness and heroic virtue is not for the faint of heart. As St. Padre Pio once said: “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain." Such words do not bring instant comfort – all that talk about “struggle against self” and “the price of pain.” But, there is truth within these words.
It seems to me that the holy St. John Vianney had a wonderful perspective on this when he knew that the only way he was going to renew his parish, to bring them back to God and set them on fire with a renewed faith, was to begin not with them alone but with himself. His deep devotion to the Eucharist, his pastoral charity, his generosity in giving of himself totally to his people, was a path to deep holiness in him. His life became a living icon that moved people to conversion. As the saints all show us, sanctity does not begin with others – it begins with myself.
The Gospel chosen for Monday's Mass from Matthew 7: 1-5 has some pointed imagery as to what we need to do as we walk the daily path of discipleship.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
“Measure, splinter, wooden beam, your brother’s eye” and then to hear “hypocrite,” is a call to task from Jesus. The vast majority of our sins confessed involve harm against another or my reaction to harm done to me. We judge, we criticize, we gossip, we take advantage of others, we exploit others for our own benefit, we treat others with disrespect, we ignore the needs of others (often those closest to us), we can be dismissive or act as if I am God’s gift to humanity – need I go on or is that wooden beam blinding us? God alone is the judge of our lives so Jesus was the only man who could say these words to his disciples and to us. Whether it be a beam, a splinter, a stick, or a Mack Truck that blinds us, Jesus himself reminds us to look in the mirror first.
There is a delicate balance, however, between not judging others and a word very popular in society today - tolerance. A synonym for the word tolerance is acceptance. Does not judging mean that I should accept bad behavior in others? If I find a friend or family member living a lifestyle that is causing scandal and is not compatible with the teaching of Christ as we have come to know it should I just say nothing lest I come across as self-righteous?
Matthew 18: 15-18 gives us a practical solution on how to handle such a delicate situation: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private ; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church ; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Jesus offers us this plan for conflict resolution within the community of faith - and beyond if we so choose.
Respect for persons is the key here. Yet, we must be careful to examine our own selves first before we step forward out of love for another. Jesus entered the home of sinners and tax collectors as the Scriptures tell us. Why? Because he agreed with their lifestyle? He called them to conversion. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery but still named the sin and called her to a change of heart - "Go, sin no more." Unity within the community is the key - we are here to support one another in the faith; to bring inspiration, not perspiration, in each other; to live the Gospel after the example of Jesus Christ
For those who are serious about spiritual growth, life can be a process of purification. We hear of the “dark night,” feelings of abandonment by God; a dry prayer experience. It sounds like a lot of work and how many of us are really up to it? Let’s face it, the pursuit of virtue and the avoidance of sin in our lives, is a daily decision to “do good and avoid evil.” It’s hard but not impossible. And it seems it isn’t about attaining perfection – that would be pride, yet we want to pray well certainly. It is more about faithfulness to what God has called us to be for him. All is God’s grace and we must desire it. We must want to avoid evil and do good – to serve the Lord generously and to live lives worthy of our name Christian.
Yet, there is no secret combination of charitable works, prayers, Masses, novenas, or Rosaries, that will do the trick – “Now, I’m holy!” While I am in no way minimizing the affect works of mercy, prayer, the Eucharist, or our devotions have on us, holiness is not what we do but what God does within us – and that is mystery and grace.
So, why isn’t everyone filled with a heart of love and a spirit of joy as marked St. Francis of Assisi? Why aren’t we all having mystical visions of Our Lord as did St. Teresa of Avila? Why aren’t all priests given the grace of compassion, miracles, and spiritual insight in the confessional as had the extraordinary Cure of Ars or Padre Pio? I wouldn't object to that. Does God have favorites or is there another reason? God gives us these Christian heroes as examples of those who removed many splinters and beams from their own eyes so that we will have them as our benchmarks.
The words of St. Teresa of Avila are very helpful in this regard:
“God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person . . . Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”
Amen
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