Holiness isn’t optional

The work of interior design is a lost art of sorts. In this century, people simply find websites with pictures of homes and workspaces that appeal to their senses, then copy the ideas. Prior to the Internet, interior designers created work and living environments that engaged beauty and function together. Function then became beautiful and beauty, functional. The outcome is somewhat synergistic. 

This is the essence of the spiritual life too. It is permitting God, through His Holy Spirit, to redesign our souls. In doing so, the functions we perform in our day shine with His beauty. Meanwhile, dignifying the beauty and intrinsic value of the people we encounter becomes a focal point of function in all that we do. The soul and body are in synergy with the Holy Spirit. 

That is real beauty. It isn’t centered in our design; it is an outcome of God’s. As a person develops in their faith, they will begin to see real beauty in all of God’s creation, imperfect as it is. A more authentic desire to use our natural talents in helping others grows from this. Eventually, through honesty with God, a paradigm shift occurs through conviction of the Holy Spirit and surrender of our own spirit to Him. Increased knowledge of God leads to improvements in one’s attitude towards the world. The saints warn us, however, that as knowledge grows so can presumption. The person on the spiritual path risks assuming their small bit of knowledge is THE ‘truth’; people don’t know what they don’t know. 

Without honest prayer and a spiritual director or friends who are equally honest with God, many people divert on an illusory path of spiritual pride. This path looks very much like God’s because it will be clothed with all the best Catholic artifacts whether it be devotional prayers, sayings from saints or Catholic decor in the home. However, the heart of the person in spiritual pride remains resting in itself even after having experienced God’s grace in prayer and in their lived experience. Rather than being on God’s path, they risk being on a side-path that looks similar but has a trajectory slightly off-course. Over time, that very slight difference in alignment leads them into teachings and philosophies that contradict God’s Truth (even if led by Catholics). Pope Paul VI warned “We see even Catholics allowing themselves to be seized by a kind of passion for change and novelty” (in Credo of the People of God, para. 4). 

This can take many shapes. It is perhaps most common in accepting secular ideologies and finding ways to justify the choice through faith. God’s Truth never needs to be justified. Very common also is to follow ‘thought’ teachers, Christian or not, that leave one emotionally consoled. 

Based in moral relativism, Christian and pagan thought leaders alike use positive vocabulary that can be interpreted as one chooses. They may speak much of universal beauty, harmony, divine wisdom, truth. Entranced with the allurement of collective goodness, God’s truth then falls into the background. The person becomes focused on the world through an ethereal perspective assuming they are seeing God in everything. 

While God’s creation is evidence of His existence and love for us, it does not have the spiritual soul given to human nature. We do not join in a collective consciousness, universal spirit or shared spiritual energies. The person on an errant path finds their own expression incorporating this vague terminology (which may reflect attributes of God) rather than using concrete terminology which fully expresses God’s truth and names the persons of the Trinity. 

Our disposition to God is reflected in our attitude in daily life. The person at risk of being on a false path lacks the true attitude of surrender.  Their disposition may be one of orchestrating their life to achieve self-fulfillment.  They may be quick to rationalize the thought leaders they follow or choices in media. The natural desire for harmony with others leads to a lack of instinctive caution regarding spiritual beliefs. A person can appear very Catholic and actually be very not. 

We are fooling ourselves if we think we are having a relationship with God but are not naming Him. To God, names have always been very important. He renamed Abram, Sarai, Simon, and calls by name the prophets and the apostles. When baptized, we are named for this same purpose: to be set apart as Holy. We can’t know His voice, His call, without directly talking to God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Speaking or writing of Him by His attributes (wisdom, truth), effects (beauty, harmony) or actions (divine inspirer) isn’t talking to or about Him. In fact, it’s akin to standing by Him with your back turned to Him. Knowing He is with you doesn’t mean you are doing His will or even paying attention to Him. And if your focus is on His gift of creation rather than Him, you aren’t relating to Him.   

Eventually, we are faced with the most important question of our life: is salvation an option or a necessity? If it isn’t optional, then my holiness can’t be either. 

Once you decide holiness is a necessity rather than optional, your entire day and life changes. The purpose to overcoming life’s challenges becomes God’s will and desire. Trusting that His desire is what is best for your own good makes it easier to change. You set aside the need to be right in arguments or that tasks must absolutely be done your way. When you decide to seek holiness whether or not you feel like it, you begin giving up controlling the world around you and let go of creating your own design to life. Being unseated from your comfort zone can be confusing and even unnerving, but at the same time a sense of freedom grows. It is the freedom from spiritual and psychological weights, and from the tension of control, with this space being filled with the Holy Spirit. Importantly, spiritual instinct grows, and the allurement of these ethereal notions offered by the world not only dissipates, these cause unrest because your soul better recognizes what sounds like God but isn’t of Him. 

Well, then, what does the soul on the proper path to God look like? God gives us plenty of saints who show off His interior designs for us to copy for our own. 😊 

The beauty of being Catholic is that we aren’t alone. We have the lessons and wisdom of the saints to teach us. How can we fully dispose ourselves to this communion of saints which we now celebrate? The Church provides the answer: 

“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.  Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2015)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊

(Image by Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)