“When I help the poor, I’m a saint. When I tell them why they’re poor, I’m a Communist.” (St. Oscar Romero, martyred Archbishop of El Salvador). We have said that to be holy is the practical expression of God’s Holiness (see “Our Call to Holiness”), but this leaves room for diversity and our uniqueness. How do we respond to the grace of God that makes us holy? At Vatican II the universal call to holiness was new, as was opening doors to the spiritualities of other religions through ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. But what is spirituality (Note: there are many valid definitions)? It is a response to God’s grace, a way to holiness. It is “the human possessed by God through the Spirit.” So, since there is only one God, there is only one spirituality, but there are many styles. Everyone has a spirituality, but it can be either life-giving or destructive. A saint is one “who can channel life-giving energies in a creative way.” If being holy is a practical expression of God’s Holiness, then Jesus gives us the practical model for a healthy spiritual life: “prayer, social justice, mellowness of heart, and openness to the Spirit and the community.” (Ronald Rolheiser). With the Vatican Council’s rediscovery and reclaiming of the scriptures and the liturgy for Catholics, the Church moved out of a fortress mentality to a sense of mission in the world. (Let’s keep in mind that Jesus’ primary work was to bring about the Reign of God). We are sent into the world, called to embrace the world, and thus have a mission in and to the world. How we carry out that mission is our Christian freedom responding to God’s grace. Spirituality is how we are called to live out a spiritual life in the context of the world, not in isolation from it. Spirituality is the “attitudes, beliefs and practices that animate people’s lives that help people reach out beyond themselves.” Archbishop Romero, possessed by the Spirit, reached out to those beyond himself and responded to God’s moment of grace by giving his life for others. That was his response, what is ours?
Dr. Don Russo