In last week’s column, I began to summarise what I shared on the second theme of the retreat, namely, the Call to Holiness.

I asked whether each believer was listening to and doing her/his best to respond to the call to holiness that was received in Baptism.

I reminded those making the retreat that many believers under- appreciate their Baptism and, as a result, do not think about the call to holiness at all.

I stressed that the journey to holiness is a gradual journey. It is a process of surrender to the Holy Spirit. Ordinarily, the journey to holiness is not an unbroken series of victories over temptation and sin. It is also filled with struggle and sometimes failure.

Holiness is not a degree of relationship with God that we achieve all at once as a result of our efforts to perfect charity in our lives. It is a lifelong process that challenges us in every stage of our lives.

Companions for our journey to holiness

There are some companions on our journey to holiness that are helpful to us in various ways. I want to reflect briefly on five of these companions on the journey:

1) Holiness and the Church
The teaching that the Church is holy is a statement of one of the four essential characteristics of the Church – sometimes called the marks of the Church. The question is how are we to understand the statement?

First of all, we must be clear on what it does not mean. It does not mean that the Church is without sin. The proper understanding of the statement that the Church is holy means the Church has within herself the fullness of the means for salvation and to glorify God. 

The Church has the Scriptures, it has the sacraments, it has the successor of Peter for guidance, it has the witness and ministry of the community of believers many of whom are saints. They may never be canonised, but they respond seriously to the call they received in Baptism to strive for holiness.

The personal question we must answer during this retreat is, “have we made the means of salvation and perfection that are available to us a part of our daily lives?”

2) Holiness and the Cross
Holiness involves the cross. There is no holiness without renunciation. There is no holiness without a battle. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes the point that the combined effect of original and actual sin makes us aware of our wounded nature and aware that life is a battle against the power of evil.

There was an interesting and, from our viewpoint of recognising our weakened humanity, a very realistic conclusion to the Gospel on the first Sunday of Lent. Luke stated, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Jesus to wait for another opportunity.”
What does that Gospel tell us? It tells us to expect temptation. It shows us through the example of Jesus how to deal with temptation. It reminds us that the battle is unending.

We are supported by the symbol of the cross and the power of the cross throughout life. We accept the teaching of Jesus to take up our cross and follow him. The personal question for us on this retreat is, “do we open ourselves to the power of the cross not just in Lent but throughout the year?”

3) Holiness and discipline
The Catholic Tradition teaches us that discipline is necessary for the pursuit of holiness.
Discipline is understood as the mortification and self-denial that leads to self-mastery and opens us to embrace the way of the cross. 

We have to remember that there are no soft saints in the Church. There are no soft martyrs in the history of the Church. They were disciplined people who were able to say “yes or no” as required by the Word of God.

Jesus stressed the cost of discipleship on many occasions. He taught the importance of self-denial for the growth of the new life we have received through faith and Baptism. The personal question we must ask ourselves during this retreat is, “have we accepted the teaching of the Lord on discipleship and is discipline and self denial a conscious part of our lives?”

4) Holiness, witness and community
We are social by nature and we need the community of the Church. We need the witness of people who share the values of Jesus, who recognize and respond to their hunger and thirst for God and who offer a form of protection to us as believers.

So many people are alone in the world. Yet everyone needs support. An example of the power of supportive witness comes from the testimony of those who have participated in the RCIA programme.

 In almost all cases, what attracted them to the Church in the first place was the witness of Catholic believers. We receive and need the support of others. It strengthens our faith and our desire for perseverance. We should be willing to do the same for others. Never underestimate the power of witness and community.

The personal question we must ask ourselves during this retreat is, “Are we aware of the powerful effect (positive and negative) that the witness of our lives can have on others?”

5) Holiness and renewal
Due to the infidelity to the Covenant that has been part of the history of the Church, there is need for constant renewal in the Church. The need for renewal touches individual believers and also the Church itself. If believers live the life of grace, the members of the Church are sanctified. 
If they move away from the life of grace, they fall into sin and disorder enters their lives. They blur the image of the Church’s holiness. The Church suffers as a result and does penance for these offenses against the Covenant.

We thank God that the Church has the power to heal sinners through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit made available in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The personal question we must ask ourselves during this retreat is, “what priority does ongoing renewal have in our lives?”

The five companions on the journey to holiness must interact with each other. All are necessary to perfect charity in our lives and to facilitate ongoing conversion in our hearts.

Conclusion

At the beginning of this retreat, I quoted the first Preface of Lent that “thanked the Father for the gift of Lent.” The season of Lent and its call to conversion is the perfect time to reflect on whether or not we have accepted the call to holiness and whether we are responding, with a good rhythm of life, to the call to holiness.

Next week we will continue with a theme from the second Preface of Lent.