“BUT THE GREATEST OF
THESE IS LOVE”: HOLINESS AS THE FULLNESS OF LOVE
(Note: This is a rough draft of the talk given
to the seminarians of the Sacred Heart Seminary
during their monthly recollection
for July)
The
history of Christian spirituality, and of Christian literature has as one of
its main themes that about holiness. Perhaps this is something that is not
confined merely to spirituality, to spiritual literature or to theology, for
that matter. Holiness is a central theme in the Christian life, since it is
precisely that which gives reason to our being Christians: “Be holy” (cfr. Lev
11:44). Despite of the simplicity of this supreme Christian ideal, the concept
of holiness has been expressed in a lot of ways; communicating this and what it
precisely means is mainly responsible for immense rivers of ink to flow
throughout the centuries, as spiritual writers have shown in their works. The
question about what holiness is and what it entails is one that has produced
the greatest spiritual classics in the history of literature. But the abundant
literature on Christian holiness is not a mere elaboration of cold concepts,
but rather is the fruit of the Christian experience, whether it be the
collective experience and tradition of the Church, or be it lived personally by
the author itself. The greatest writers on holiness and union with God were
great saints, and in this area I cannot but help thinking of Teresa of Avila
and John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola or Thèrése of the Child Jesus. They
wrote not merely of what they have received from the great patrimony of the
Church concerning holiness, but also from the richness of their own personal
experience with God.
We
may have many possible ways of understanding what holiness is. This is what I
have been trying to express since the start. In this setting, a monthly
recollection given to semianrians—aspirants to the holy Priesthood of the
Archdiocese of Palo and its suffragans—I would like to be guided by the theme
that the upcoming Jubilee has proposed for this year: “There are in the end
three things that last, faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is
love” (1 Cor 13:13). This is precisely one theme that would eventually lead us
to that of the Jubilee year itself, which is precisely about holiness: “This is
the will of God: your holiness” (1 Thes 4:3).
Going
back to the issue at hand, I have stated that there the understanding of the
concept of holiness is abundant; we could understand it in a variety of ways.
Some are precise, while some could not be far from the mark. Others are plain
caricatures of holiness, and therefore, far from aiding us in making progress
in our Christian life, as retained concepts they stunt our growth. One such
example I could still remember from my younger years, while I was in
elementary. On thing that was in our school environment was that smiling
continually helped you grow in holiness. Many of our teachers were members of a
charismatic group, and they got it right when they taught us that joy was
consequential to holiness, however, reflecting on the slogan years afterward, a
wrong message was transmitted to us pupils—to me at least—in which we had to
keep smiling always because it made one holy. I learned as I went through life
that people could smile for a lot of reasons—some of which aren’t especially edifying
nor conducive to holiness. Even Satan could smile, well at least if we could
give him a face or lips to smile with.
Others
would picture holiness as associated with long periods of being in the presence
of the Blessed Sacrament, and having countless devotions day in and day out.
This is holiness understood as living constantly within the shadow of the
parish church or in the air-conditioned comfort of the Adoration chapel, or
countless rosaries and novenas to saints. This is something that I believe all
of us would have debunked by now. Were it to be so, the beggars in our churches
should really be very holy people, and our sacristans and church sweepers
should be among the most esteemed in our communities for their holiness. Not
that these people cannot be holy, but experience wise we don’t know of any
sacristan, or church sweeper, or beggar with exceptional holiness of life here
in our immediate surroundings.
These
are just two of the conceptions that we could have about personal sanctity or
holiness. We may smile at the thought of these caricatures, but at least they
contain a grain of truth. It is true that joy and gladness of heart is a
component of sanctity, and that this inner joy goes outward to be expressed in
a smile; there is no doubt that sanctity requires that devotion and communion
with God that is present in prayer, a relationship that is expressed in the way
we take time to be in prayer. However, even these—joy, gladness, communion
through prayer, devotion—merely lead us to something even more profound. It is
something that lies at the heart of sanctity.
To
consider this deeper element of holiness, let us be guided by the words of the
Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope and love, and
the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). These are words that perhaps
may be very familiar to us; they form part in Paul’s famous “Hymn to love”,
which is oftentimes used in wedding liturgies because of the fact that it
points to this necessary Christian virtue. What we see are three things that
are fundamental, namely, faith, hope, and love. There is nothing more stable
than these three; all the rest pass away quickly. These three are what the
doctrine of our Faith term as the three theological virtues. By theological we
express the fact that these virtues come to us as gifts from God. We are
endowed with these three by God.
This
is one important consideration that we ought to have when we talk about
holiness. Sanctity is a gift from God, a
grace, something that we do not come up on our own desire or strength. It
is not an accomplishment of mine, or something that I receive a diploma or a
certificate that would attest of it as a personal achievement. For these three
are fundamentally essential for sanctity. Faith enables us to commit ourselves
entirely to God, and thereby seek to know and do His holy will.[1]
For its part, the virtue of hope makes us desire the kingdom of heaven and
eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and
relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy
Spirit.[2]
Important
though they may be, these two however would not remain as well, for even these
two would give way to a third virtue. This is a virtue that, in the way that I
would like to understand it, the other virtues of faith and hope encounter their
maximum expression and their supreme fulfillment. This is the virtue of
charity, of love: “and the greatest of
these is love”(1 Cor 13:13).
The
consideration of sanctity and of these virtues allows us to see that it is
charity that brings the two together. It
is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things and for his own
sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.[3]
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us about love. But
here is another given in the youth catechism issued for the latest World Youth
Day in Madrid (2011), otherwise known as the YOUCAT: “Charity is the power by which we, who have been loved first by God, can
give ourselves to God so as to be united with him and can accept our neighbor
for God’s sake as unconditionally and sincerely as we accept ourselves”.[4]
In
the Catechism, we find this statement: “All Christians in any state or walk of
life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of
charity. All are called to holiness”.[5]
Holiness is nothing else than the fullness of Christian life. the Christian
life is characterized specifically by one thing: charity. It is not faith that
characterizes the Christian, nor is it hope, because Jews have this hope in the
coming of the promised Messiah, and Muslims are noted for their faith as well.
There is what we call a faith that is Christian and a hope founded on Christ,
but that which is typically Christian is charity. In fact, the fundamental law
taught to us by the Lord could be summed up in this way: Love the Lord your God
and love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the fullness of Christian life, and
brought to perfection, this is what holiness is. Borrowing that happy
expression of the conciliar document Lumen
Gentium when it mentioned the universal call made out to all followers of
Christ, holiness is nothing else but the
perfection of charity.
This
is so because love is that which unites us with God, allowing us to share in
his very own life. Our participation in the life of God begins even while here
on earth, through sanctifying grace, which is nothing else but man’s
participation in the very life of God. It is a participation of Love that finds
its fulfillment in heaven. This is supported by that verse in the letter of
John that says: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God
abides in him”.[6]
The Christian who allows himself to be the dwelling place of the Trinity of
Love in his heart soon becomes known for a life that is built upon and
characterized by charity.
This
union with God who is love, of which holiness is all about, could not be
contained in itself, but rather overflows, allowing us to embrace others as
well. Love begets love, as one known saying goes. Getting our take from another
maxim, this time philosophical[7],
we could say that love is diffusive. This love overflows into one’s neighbor.
The love of God is not sterile nor does it leave a person indifferent to the
plight of the one nearest to him. It moves the Christian to share this interior
life of love with his brethren in the faith, and brings forth a harvest of good
works. It incites to action; it never leaves a person indifferent. when a
person allows himself to be touched by the transforming power of God’s internal
life—that internal life of the Trinity which is love, not only does he become
transformed himself; rather, he becomes an agent of transformation in the
community wherein he lives.
This
is one thing that explains that striking reference in the YOUCAT which mentions charity as a POWER. Holiness, as the
fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity, is a constructive
force capable of transforming not merely the societies that we live in, but
also even the cosmos. It was the holiness of God that created the universe; it
is this explosion of holiness in the Parousia that will recreate the wounded
cosmos. In relation to this it is very interesting to remember that the Church
is always undergoing renewal; every period in the Church’s bimilenary history
has its own period of reform and renewal. It is a manifestation of the holiness
of the Church, despite of the sins of her children. It is interesting to note
that these periods of strong renewal within the Church were ushered in by holy
men and women of every time and age.
This
power stems from the touch of God upon every person. For us, in relation with
our neighbor, this power stems from the fact that we are able to accept those
nearest to us unconditionally and sincerely, as was mentioned in the citation
from the YOUCAT. But this is also due to the fact that that in doing so, we
have been able to do the same for ourselves: we have accepted the truth about
ourselves unconditionally and in all sincerity.
Charity
allows us to walk in the path of the truth. This is a truth that we have not
invented for ourselves, on that could change with the times or with the
fashion. This is something that goes beyond the barriers of nationality and
race, gender or sexual preference. What is this truth that I am referring to?
Nothing else but having been created in the image and likeness of God, who is
love, we have been given new life as children of God in the only-begotten Son
of God, and that this filiation—that being a son or daughter of God—is the work
of the Holy Spirit. Holiness means living according to the truth of the
original plan that God had for each and every single one of us. Sin may have
warped this original image, but the coming of the Son of God among us has given
us to the opportunity of becoming life unto God himself, with his very life in
us.
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