Hiding

He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’” (Matthew 23:12).

All Saints (Icon)

I have been thinking about holiness.

There is so much to be said for being holy.

After all, though we can preach about it and it may sound like hollow words, it really relates to the whole purpose of our life.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that our purpose in this life is to know, love and serve God and the be with Him forever in Heaven.

And the only way we can do all of that, is to grow in holiness.  The Saints are holy.  A Saint is someone who has gone straight to Heaven when they die.  How do we know this?  Well, their life is investigated and several certifiable miracles are demanded to prove their sanctity prior to declaring them a Saint.  In fact, the Catholic Church has always erred on the side of caution and refused to recognise souls as Saints without miraculous proof (in multiple instances) just in case they have made a mistake…

When the Church investigates the lives of the Saints, they consider whether they lived holy lives.  This is not to say that they must have lived without sin – many great saints were great sinners first.  Think of Saint Augustine, who bragged that he had committed every single sin prior to his conversion, and fathered several children out of wedlock.  In fact, his miraculous conversion – through the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica, was what caused him to rearrange his life with a focus on holiness…

But holiness does not need to be a public thing.  Often the Saints were quiet achievers and few people knew the extent of their sanctity…

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice...They do all their deeds to be seen by men...He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’” (Matthew 23:1-12).

This is not to say hat every Saint lived hidden lives.  After all Pope Saint John Paul II and Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta were well known throughout the world during their lifetimes.  Millions of people knew their names and were aware of their sanctity.  And God used that for His purpose.  But others, like Saint Faustina, were quiet and unknown.  Cloistered, and sickly, Saint Faustina was mostly perceived as an inconvenience and a pretender by many of the sisters in the convent.

And I have been thinking of all of this today as I have been thinking about the power of the hidden.  For Christ is hidden in the Blessed Eucharist inside the Tabernacle of the Church down my street (and every other Catholic Church in the world), and perhaps He has hidden a little holiness inside me too.  And if I pray very hard for Grace, then maybe – just maybe – I will receive enough Grace to be holy – even if it is in hiding…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.