We are called to holiness of life. We are called to a life of virtue. We are called to be saints. We are called to be a holy priesthood, serving God. How is that going?
No problem!
No problem because we have lowered the bar?
No problem because we have given up?
No problem because that is for the clergy?
God says to those who have ears to listen, “You will be holy because I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). And he tells them what to do. They have something to do in order to be.
The early church was called The Way (Acts 9:2) because it was about a doing and a being. It was about an orthopraxy before the church turned it into an orthodoxy. The first call of God is a call to a way of life.
The church has traditionally taught the learning, practice, and development of virtues as a means toward holiness for both individuals and the church community. Virtues are the defense and the remedy for the various sins that afflict us. Pride, envy, gluttony, greed, anger, lust, and sloth are each defeated by the practices of the virtues such as humility, kindness, charity, and patience.
These are easy enough to find on the Internet if you would rather not talk to your priest about personal vices and helpful virtues. In this traditional teaching, it is pride that is cast as the chief of all vices. Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas both taught that pride is the root of all sin. C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, wrote that "Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” What is pride? It is narcissism. It is overconfidence in and boasting about oneself. It is arrogance. It is an attempt to take the place of God and so is an offense against God. The remedy? The virtue of humility.
Humility is about knowing one’s place in relationship to God. It is about letting God be God and not exceeding the bounds of our humanity and taking the place of God. It is also about recognizing our various gifts and not practicing a false humility by denying ourselves, our worth, and our giftedness. As one person put it, “humility is not thinking less of oneself, but rather thinking of oneself less often.” In that sense, and in contrast to narcissism, humility may be taken as thinking about others and how ones gifts may be of service to others in God’s name.
Holiness is a way of life, an orthopraxy, and virtues are a means to help us along the way. They are meant to be practices. Flex your virtues and let us with God’s help become holy people.
Grace and peace,
Fr Bill+