English bishop launches ‘Year of Holiness’
Speaking to young people in the year 2000 Pope John Paul II quoted St. Catherine of Siena, “If you are what you should be, you will set the world ablaze.”
For Bishop Mark Davies in England, being “what you should be” means being a saint. In his latest pastoral letter the bishop has called on his people to keep 2019 as a “Year of Holiness”, with the focus on becoming saints.
The renowned French author, Leon Bloy, he noted, spoke the truth when he said, “the only great tragedy in life is not to become a saint.”
This is true for every person whether “a student, a busy parent, a banker, a factory worker or a frail elderly person.”
On the same theme Bloy also stated: “The more holy a woman is the more woman she is,” a truth that applies to men too.
The bishop wants to promote daily prayer, frequent Confession, reading the lives of the saints, thinking like a Catholic and, above all, taking part in Sunday Mass and receiving holy Communion.
In an interview with the US Catholic Register he recalled how Pope John Paul II, when faced with a big problem, always asked: “What is the truth of faith that sheds light on this problem?”
Truth of faith
Applying that principle, the bishop of Shrewsbury concluded that “the call to holiness is the truth of faith we need to recall at this moment in history.”
This echoed the central message of Vatican Council II, that every single person is called to become “nothing less than a saint”.
This teaching on the “universal call to holiness” means that becoming a saint is the ultimate goal of every human life. And it is only when helped by God’s grace that people achieve it.
Pope Benedict had the same vision when, visiting England in 2010, he told a youth gathering that God never wants anyone to aspire for second best in life. He wants the very best for every person, and the best is holiness.
“It is important to remember that our striving for holiness doesn’t consist in doing something strange or eccentric,” said Bishop Davies. “Holiness is found in the framework of our ordinary lives and amid our daily work and duties.”
An important help which he especially recommended was the constant reading of the lives of the saints.
“We have so much to learn from them!,” he said. “We find encouragement in their words, which are often simple and profound; and, if we are attentive to their lives, we can draw some of the greatest lessons.
‘Spirituality’
The bishop warned, however, that many books today have the title of “spirituality,” but he would encourage people not to waste time or even risk reading books that might prove misleading or damaging.
“It is sure guides we are looking for, and we will find them in the saints!,” he said.
In the saints people will learn that sanctity “consists in wanting what God wants for us in every moment of our lives.”
And it is in the Church, holy yet made up of sinners, that “we find everything we need to grow towards holiness.”
In terms of Church renewal, the Bishop of Shrewsbury added: “No lengthy discussions between us, no restructuring or new programmes can ever be a substitute for the striving for holiness.”
People dismayed by the turmoil in the Church and in society should recall past times, often more difficult than the present, when the saints remained faithful.
During the English reformation, for example, saints like John Fisher and Thomas More were willing to give their lives rather than betray the Faith.
Pope Francis, said Bishop Davies, likes to speak of people whom he describes as “the saints next door.”
They are the people who “have a supernatural perspective on life and fill the ordinary moments, and even the most difficult, with great love.”
As the pope points out, “the Lord wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence.”
For Bishop Mark Davies in England, being “what you should be” means being a saint. In his latest pastoral letter the bishop has called on his people to keep 2019 as a “Year of Holiness”, with the focus on becoming saints.
The renowned French author, Leon Bloy, he noted, spoke the truth when he said, “the only great tragedy in life is not to become a saint.”
This is true for every person whether “a student, a busy parent, a banker, a factory worker or a frail elderly person.”
On the same theme Bloy also stated: “The more holy a woman is the more woman she is,” a truth that applies to men too.
The bishop wants to promote daily prayer, frequent Confession, reading the lives of the saints, thinking like a Catholic and, above all, taking part in Sunday Mass and receiving holy Communion.
In an interview with the US Catholic Register he recalled how Pope John Paul II, when faced with a big problem, always asked: “What is the truth of faith that sheds light on this problem?”
Truth of faith
Applying that principle, the bishop of Shrewsbury concluded that “the call to holiness is the truth of faith we need to recall at this moment in history.”
This echoed the central message of Vatican Council II, that every single person is called to become “nothing less than a saint”.
This teaching on the “universal call to holiness” means that becoming a saint is the ultimate goal of every human life. And it is only when helped by God’s grace that people achieve it.
Pope Benedict had the same vision when, visiting England in 2010, he told a youth gathering that God never wants anyone to aspire for second best in life. He wants the very best for every person, and the best is holiness.
“It is important to remember that our striving for holiness doesn’t consist in doing something strange or eccentric,” said Bishop Davies. “Holiness is found in the framework of our ordinary lives and amid our daily work and duties.”
An important help which he especially recommended was the constant reading of the lives of the saints.
“We have so much to learn from them!,” he said. “We find encouragement in their words, which are often simple and profound; and, if we are attentive to their lives, we can draw some of the greatest lessons.
‘Spirituality’
The bishop warned, however, that many books today have the title of “spirituality,” but he would encourage people not to waste time or even risk reading books that might prove misleading or damaging.
“It is sure guides we are looking for, and we will find them in the saints!,” he said.
In the saints people will learn that sanctity “consists in wanting what God wants for us in every moment of our lives.”
And it is in the Church, holy yet made up of sinners, that “we find everything we need to grow towards holiness.”
In terms of Church renewal, the Bishop of Shrewsbury added: “No lengthy discussions between us, no restructuring or new programmes can ever be a substitute for the striving for holiness.”
People dismayed by the turmoil in the Church and in society should recall past times, often more difficult than the present, when the saints remained faithful.
During the English reformation, for example, saints like John Fisher and Thomas More were willing to give their lives rather than betray the Faith.
Pope Francis, said Bishop Davies, likes to speak of people whom he describes as “the saints next door.”
They are the people who “have a supernatural perspective on life and fill the ordinary moments, and even the most difficult, with great love.”
As the pope points out, “the Lord wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence.”