So we go for the celebrities and mistake fame for holiness, or we are inspired by a great preacher or teacher and mistake a speaking gift for holiness, or we see someone engaged in helping the poor or being kind and mistake kindness for holiness, or we meet a person who has a naturally engaging personality and who has learned good manners and we mistake good manners for holiness. Perhaps we meet a professional religious person--a priest, monk or nun and we see their religious clothes and like their caring, religious manner and think that is holiness.
It may be, but then again it may not be. That holiness is hidden goes with the definition because a holy person is humble, and a humble person is not only self effacing, but their humility is really expressed in the fact that they are being themselves, and a person who is truly himself or herself does not attract much attention. They fit. They blend in. They belong. This humble, holy person does not attract much attention because they are taken for granted--like a blue sky or like the grass growing.
Furthermore, if you seek out the humble person and hope they are holy, and ask them for direction or guidance they will probably chuckle and tell you to move on because they really don't think they have much to offer you. They will listen to you kindly, but chances are, they will dismiss your request, and you will have to keep searching.
It's more complicated. If you are looking for the holy person amongst the professional religious, and among those lay people who are so pious that they make the professional religious look like amateurs, then you are also likely to be disappointed. The holy person may be hidden there, as he or she may be hidden anywhere, but just because the person does lots of religious stuff doesn't mean they are holy. Indeed, if the holy person has taken the Lord's advice and prays in secret, and washes their face and appears joyful when fasting, then the outwardly 'religious' signs may be indicators otherwise.
Instead, I look for secret signs. I look for the person who is contented and joyful. I spy out the person who listens more than they talk. I look for the person who has learned--really learned--to recognize and love the face of Christ in five ways: in the Church, in the person of the priest, in the Eucharist, in the Sacred Scriptures and in the face of the poor. I look for the person who responds to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in simple obedience and without fanfare. I look for the person who accepts suffering and knows how to turn it into something golden.
If you find a person like that, then you've found the secret treasure--the hidden garden--the pearl of great price.
Great advice/ reflection on holiness, Father. Thank you. I'm currently discerning a vocation to the diocesan priesthood and I'm fortunate to have a great, humble spiritual director. You always have great articles. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteFor me, holy obedience defines a saint. It defines every Christian, but, the Christian who is especially obedient, even in small things, really define the saint for me.
ReplyDeleteWow Father, amazing article. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am currently mourning the loss of a holy little priest from a nearby church. He could preach the truths of the faith with ease and such simplicity. He was a wonderful confessor. He was so gentle, but firm. My loss, I suppose, is another congregations gain. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
ReplyDeleteFr. Longenecker: "So we go for the celebrities and mistake fame for holiness, or we are inspired by a great preacher or teacher and mistake a speaking gift for holiness"
ReplyDeleteWe Catholics are terrible for this. We glorify everyone who has a program on EWTN, and when we meet them in person, we treat them like secular people treat Hollywood stars.
I often ask Catholics who have fallen prey to the cult of celebrity, "if Dr. Hahn and Fr. Barron (I used to say 'Fr. Corapi' but can't anymore) were in one corner of the room and a group of contemplative nuns were in the other corner, who would you go to and visit with?" The "real" celebrities are the nuns, but due to our spiritual blindness, most Catholics would walk right past the nuns on their way to speak to (and get autographs from) Dr. Hahn and Fr. Barron.
Really like your 5 signs, in the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember who said it, but somewhere I read that anyone who is anxious to be the spiritual director of others is not going to be a sound director.
Also, in my opinion, spiritual direction really cannot be taught. I think it was St Francis de Sales who said that only one priest in a thousand has the capability to be a good director.
There are some folks who go to such and such institute and get a certificate in spiritual direction or what have you, and meanwhile they are more or less heretics, especially the ones who are from fallen-away religious communities of women. I would not take their advice on how to walk down the street!! They seem to think that anyone who is sort of nicely sentimental and considers themselves spiritual and peaceable is full of wisdom... Meanwhile they don't actually believe in the teachings of the Church. They love to set up retreat centers and offer retreats with themselves as "directors"... many people can be led astray in this way.
Also, I personally do not believe in laypersons (including religious) being spiritual directors. There is something very special that comes with the priestly charism, that you cannot get from non-priests...with VERY RARE exceptions, like, for example, St Teresa of Avila....
in my experience, nowadays one has to take one's direction from classic books by proven directors, because it is hard to find a good director unless you happen to live anywhere near one.... and as you point out, they don't hang out a shingle...and we couldn't trust them if they did!!
PS - I don't mean to say that one can't have a real live director nowadays, just that it is hard to find one...especially the more one grows in the spiritual life. It is better to get good advice from books than bad advice from people. St Teresa herself said it is better to have no director than to have an unfit one.
ReplyDeleteFather- Thank you for a wonderful author! How do you suggest asking a priest to be a spiritual director? Just ask straight out? I'm currently in the process of finding a spiritual director, and was wondering how I was going to ask the priest. Thank you, and God Bless!
ReplyDeleteThe thing I looked for most was total honesty. I know that this person is not afraid to tell me the truth about myself.
ReplyDeleteI would add that a holy person is someone you can ask to tell you something about what Christ has meant to their life and is able to do so.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a beautiful post. Of course I don't know if you are talking about yourself finding a holy S.D. but I will be praying for you and offering the rosary that you may find what you are looking for. In the meantime stay with your longing try not to supress it and bring it to Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that the one trying to live holiness begins small and hidden. St John of the Cross speaks about this in his "Dark Night of the Soul," but eventually holy people are sought out by the faithful and eventually become known. Like the pearl that you mentioned or the mustard seed, it eventually becomes a large bush that the birds of the air come to rest in.
ReplyDeleteThose in love with God cannot but help share the fruits of that love with others, and eventually their zeal will lead them to spread the Gospel. This can be seen in the life of Therese of Lisieux who is a doctor of the church and copatron of missions and Mother Angelica, a cloistered nun who built the largest religious media outlet in the world, all for the love of Jesus and the spread of His Gospel. This shows that there is a crisis of saints and holiness along with a crisis of faith right now. If we had ten Mother Angelicas in the US, this country would be Christian again.
Actually, a good spiritual director needs to be knowlegable in the way of spiritual life and psychology. They don't need to be "holy" at all, any more than a doctor needs to be healthy to cure you.
ReplyDeleteA well trained spiritual director knows this, and will adjust his/her advice. Indeed, William James Variety of Religious Experience, is a better guide to guiding souls than a lot of the "spirituality" stuff I have read. And he was an atheist.
Why? Too often spiritual advice is written by and for the healthy minded in religion, which leaves the rest of us out.
Father, your last paragraph that sums up what to look for in a spiritual director is an interesting conclusion, for if you already know the necessary signs of
ReplyDeletewhat you are looking for in the hidden pearl and it includes all those qualities of spirituality that you mentioned, you probably have`nt got that much need for a spiritual director. Your already on the right path. The answers to your questions can be found in the Gosples and in the silent whisper of His voice. Pax.