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Be Perfect As Your Heavenly Father Is Perfect
Yesterday at Adoration I began to read The Fulfillment of All Desire, by Ralph Martin. Another guy here at Bruté has gotten a group of us together and we plan to read at least parts of this book and then do a little bit of discussing about it. I have only gotten a few pages into it, so I don't know yet how it will turn out, but the bits I have read so far have been fantastic. The author, who apparently was pretty active in the church ever since the Second Vatican Council, has taught many courses on the doctors of the church, so this is his book kind of pulling all their thoughts together on the spiritual life (especially Sts. Catherine of Sienna, Bernard of Clairvaux, Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Theresa of Lisieux, Augustine, and Francis de Sales).
I had no idea what the book was all about until I started reading it today, but I found it really interesting because just on Friday St. John of the Cross had come up in the class about philosophical themes in Catholic authors when we were talking about how many of the characters in the stories we were reading didn't seem to have any concern for the important things of life. Of course, many times I catch myself doing the same things, but it is funny to step back and see how these characters get all worked up about these really trivial things - that their clothes are perfect, that they have control over the family vacation, that they know what other people are doing all the time, etc. - and never think about what their life should be about. It's interesting because we have been hitting this question (what's the point?) all semester so far in this class, but always from the philosophical angle.
Super summary: everything has a point, a reason for which it exists, (a telic end if you want to be philosophical), but as humans it is up to us to figure out this end and live our life in a way that brings us to it. Aristotle, who we've been covering quite a bit, says that the end of humans is happiness, and to get there we have to perfect our intellect through acquiring the moral and intellectual virtues (basically, using our intellect to govern over our emotions, so that we live rationally). Aquinas takes this idea to the next level by enriching it with Catholicism and saying that human happiness is best found in God (eventually in the Beatific Vision in Heaven), and to reach this kind of happiness we must have the moral, intellectual, and theological virtues (which are our connection with God and are given as a gift to us by God). Furthermore, we have to live according to intellect and will, which allows us to choose to believe and live our lives according to things that are beyond our intellect (not that having faith, hope, and love is irrational, but it can't be fully explained by our reason).
Now, back to our conversation in class, we were talking about how these characters seemed to have no virtues at all - not that they were all evil, they just didn't use their reason to ask the big questions (and seek the big answers) of what they really should be doing, but only to argue, scheme, find pleasure, and whatever else that obviously won't lead them to true happiness (and in the stories doesn't). Anyway, one of the guys brought up the fact that St. John of the Cross had said to consider our death. Not in a morbid - I wonder how and when I'll die - king of thing, but as a reminder that we will die and need to make sure that we are ready. We only talked about it for a minute or two (class was already, as usual, over time), but afterwards as we were walking out I complained a bit how I wish I was reading stuff from these great saints. So often I read about technological, theological, scientific, philosophical, liturgical, even scriptural topics, but I really haven't read much on the spiritual topics. Of course, all those other kinds of knowledge can feed into one's relationship with God (especially the scriptural or theological ones), but they aren't telling you how others have become saints or the way that one should work on becoming a saint. So, long story short, I was intrigued by this mention of St. John of the Cross and thought that I would have to look him up and perhaps start reading some of his writings.
Now, connecting in the other piece here quickly. Today at Mass, in both the reading from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18) and the Gospel (Matthew 5:38-48) we hear something very similar. From the Old Testament: "be holy as I, the LORD your God, is holy" and then Jesus, in the Gospel, says "be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect". Martin, the author of this book that I have begun to read, starts his very first chapter by saying that this quote (from Our Lord) is the summation of all of His teachings. We are to become holy and perfect. What's it mean to be holy? "To be holy is not primarily a matter of how many Rosaries we say of how much Christian activity we're engaged in; it's a matter of having a heart transformed into a heart of love." [Martin, Ralph. The Fulfillment of All Desire. Page 2] He immediately tempers this statement by noting that, as Blessed (soon to be Saint) John Paul II said, with the current secularization of the world it is more important and necessary than prayer be central to our lives because we just don't have the support of a Christian society anymore. But, prayer isn't just for prayer's sake, it's for our relationship with God and becoming holy because of it. From here, both John Paul and the author move into the mystics, pointing out that it is here that we can find examples of people who had an incredible union with God, and that we are also called to have this kind of deep, complete, relationship with Him. Of course, this seems impossible, but again, JPII has something to say about this:
It is a journey totally sustained by grace, which nonetheless demands an intense spiritual commitment and is no stranger to painful purifications (the "dark night"). But it leads, in various possible ways, to the ineffable joy experienced by the mystics. [Page 4. Quoting from Novo Millennio Ineunte 32]
Martin then lays out four requirements of the spiritual journey, as outlined by John Paul II. First, reliance on God and His grace. We absolutely can't take this journey on our own, but the good news is that God loves us so much that He yearns to bring us to Himself and will sustain us with His grace so that we can do just that. Second, reliance on God doesn't mean not doing anything yourself. It's like the pearl of great price, God is trying to give us the pearl but we have to give up things, and do some digging, to receive it. Third, we have to realize that the path toward union with God (that perfection and holiness that we are called to) will entail pain. We can't reach the resurrection with the cross, we can't get to God without giving up the things that are distracting or preventing us from following Him. Finally, we must always keep in mind that this pain is infinitely worth it, the gift that God offers us is perfect, everlasting happiness, what could possibly be more worthwhile than that?
The last little bit that I read today was about how this call goes into effect right now. Holiness starts now, no matter how busy you are, no matter how much other stuff you are worried about. Much like those characters in the stories, we (OK, at least I) get distracted with the many worries and pleasures of life that really have no bearing on eternal life (or even the rest of my earthly life) We have to realize that there is a bigger picture, a more important goal, something that we really have to get working on. Paul, in the second reading also speaks to this, saying that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We need to live like it!
Becoming holy isn't easy, it requires hard work, some suffering, and reliance on God (because we can't become perfect on our own), but it is totally worth it! As Pope Francis said in his homily recently after making the new cardinals, sanctity isn't just for us either: "[t]o be a saint is not a luxury. It is necessary for the salvation of the world". Get on it folks!
I have a feeling this book will be really good, I can't wait to read more!
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