By Nicholas Soellner
Special to The Message
When you read the phrase, “a holy person,” what is the first image that comes to mind? Jesus? A picture of your favorite saint? If so, you’re not alone. But what is holiness? Holiness is a unique attribute belonging to God. Sacred things are directed towards God and his worship, but are not God in themselves. So when we say humans are called to holiness, it means we are called to become like God. Heaven is our God-desired destiny, having been made His adopted children through baptism. When we say holiness is our destiny as human beings, it is as much a “where” as a “what.” The moral teachings of God are better understood as a map towards our destiny, not a legal handbook of rules!
So how do we get there? In his talk at the National Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Robert Barron referred to a two-tiered spirituality in the Church leftover from the 1950s: a “spirituality of the 10 Commandments” for the laity, and a “Council spirituality,” consisting of poverty, chastity and obedience for the clergy and religious. This is a poor distinction, however, as Bishop Barron says, “The laity too are called to heroic sanctity.” Over the years, there has crept in a sort of two-tiered chastity amongst the laity too: one form of chastity for married folks and one for everybody else. There is a grave danger in believing that this double standard is true. Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Humane Vitae” gives a powerful example,
“...a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman and disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”
Unfortunately, the Church’s teachings on sexuality have long been reduced to a list of “do nots.” But Bishop Barron hits the nail on the head when he says, “All of today’s modern issues, the objectification of both men and women, hookup culture, abortion and pornography, are all the result of a sexuality turned in on itself … The Church isn’t against sex, it’s against sex divorced from love.” Love then, must be an outward expression of self-gift, not a satisfaction of our desires or urges. Love, simply put, is “to will the good of the other” as St. Thomas Aquinas said.
This is all good in theory, but what of our human brokenness? With rampant pornography use amongst both men and women, a culture that celebrates promiscuity, gives away contraceptives for free and claims that happiness is only possible in romantic relationships where we can act on our sexual desires, living these ideals often feels impossible. Our brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction cry out to God, “Why did you give me this attraction if you didn’t want me to act on it?”
Creation is good, and humanity was created “very good” (cf. Genesis 1:31). However, God did not say that creation was perfect. What we see in Genesis is called Original Harmony, which represents the desired cooperative relationship between imperfect creation and perfect Creator. But because creation is not perfect, it suffers, to varying degrees in its imperfections. Humanity’s imperfections have always been destined to be remedied through our Union with God. However, because of original sin, these imperfections are compounded and twisted into ever greater distortions. Our appetites and desires share in this disordering and manifest themselves in various ways. For some, an inclination toward addiction, for others, an unhealthy attachment to material wealth. Yet, whatever we have received from God is ultimately a gift and all of us are called to use every gift we have received from God to glorify him, bring about his Kingdom on Earth, and love our neighbors as if they were Christ himself.
God entrusted you with your sexuality, regardless of the type of attraction you experience. He calls you to self-mastery to glorify him and to be free to love as Christ did. Regardless of our attraction or state of life, we all fall short of this ideal at first and will inevitably struggle toward progress. Progress is only possible when we pray from our brokenness, “God, I see what chastity calls me to, I see my inability to do it, please transform me by your grace.” Living in the Spirit demands personal prayer, devotion to the Sacraments, and seeking out healthy friendships that encourage us to give our lives to Jesus Christ, for “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
First, I asked you what image came to mind when you thought about “a holy person.” I will end with an even more important question: “Why was it not an image of you?”
Nicholas Soellner is program manager for the Diocese of Evansville Office of Catechesis.