Then and Now

 UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS

Chapter V of the Dogmatic Constitution discusses our universal call to holiness. You might say, “What? Me, be holy?” That’s right! I remember a time when priests and religious were thought to be called to “a life of perfection,” which implied that laypeople were “less perfect.” But the Dogmatic Constitution states that “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (40).

I wonder how many of us really believe this. We probably feel uncomfortable thinking of ourselves as holy. But even one of the prefaces for Sunday Mass tells us that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart.”

We are all called to strive for this holiness, but in a way that is proper to each of us. Doesn’t Saint Paul remind us that we’re temples of the Holy Spirit? When we receive the holy Eucharist, are we not united with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God? The Dogmatic Constitution states that “married couples and Christian parents should follow their own proper path (to holiness) by faithful love. They should sustain one another in grace throughout the entire length of their lives.” If we thought of ourselves as actually being called to holiness, we’d probably do a better job of being holy people who have been so loved and redeemed by our all-holy God.

During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II regarded Vatican Council II as a work of the Holy Spirit that was to prepare the Church to move confidently into the twenty-first century. When Pope John XXIII first announced the council, he spoke of it as being a “new Pentecost.” We know how the Church responded to that first Pentecost. Acts of the Apostles tells of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles as tongues of fire. The apostles immediately began to proclaim to the thousands who had gathered outside when they heard the noise coming from that upper room. Over 3,000 people were added to the Church as a result. 

This New Pentecost at Vatican II has had a similar effect. Every year at the Easter Vigil in parishes throughout the world, thousands of people are added to the Church after having taken part in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. I truly believe Vatican II will one day have a similar impact on all of us who are the Church. We cannot possibly thwart the power of the Holy Spirit given us in our time. We, the people of God, mustn’t lose this opportunity to renew the face of the Earth. Let us continue the work of the Second Vatican Council. ♦