The Universal Call to Holiness:
Jubilee and Eucharist
At the beginning of the U.S. bishops annual meeting two weeks
ago, Cardinal Hickey of Washington, D.C., dedicated a monumental
marble frieze on the back wall of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception. It depicts the call to holiness of all the baptized
and pictures some representative figures--a young couple, an elderly
woman, some children, of different races and cultures--along with
a few recognizable faces such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope
John Paul II and even Cardinal Hickey himself! All are gathered
with the Blessed Virgin Mary, receiving from the Holy Spirit the
grace that makes us holy.
The teaching that all are called to holiness was one of the most
important truths of the faith re-stated during the Second Vatican
Council. Holiness had sometimes been considered the preserve of
those consecrated by religious vows or ordained; ordinary Catholics
were to save their souls but not aspire to great holiness. The
Council taught that holiness is the vocation of all the baptized,
which is one of the reasons there have been so many beatifications
and canonizations of saints since the Council. If all are called
to holiness, then the Church should recognize that holy people
are found in all walks of life. As Ive often said in the parishes,
one of the great joys in being Archbishop lies in meeting so many
people in whom the grace of God has worked.
I think that, at times, the universal call to holiness got misinterpreted
in the years right after the Council as a universal call to ecclesial
ministry. Perhaps the clericalism sometimes found in the pre-Vatican
II Church continues to operate among those who think one cannot
be holy except through doing ministry. There were a few years
when everything was called ministry, from preaching the homily
to cutting the grass. The essential distinction between the generous
service which is the natural outgrowth of a holy life and the
various ministries and offices of the Church is part of the teaching
of Vatican II. Dedicating a monument depicting the universal call
to holiness in the National Shrine just at the beginning of the
new millennium serves to remind us of how the Council was a remote
but very real preparation for the great Jubilee which begins this
Christmas.
All holiness, as the third Eucharistic prayer states, comes from
the Father through his son, Jesus Christ, by the working of the
Holy Spirit. To be holy is to participate in Gods life through
the gift of sanctifying grace. Full and actual participation in
the Eucharist is the best way of living Gods life, which is also
given and shared in the other sacraments. The ordinary actions
of daily life are also occasions for grace and not just occasions
of sin, as they were thought to be almost exclusively by some
spiritual authors. This very Conciliar vision of things is why
Pope John Paul II has declared that the Jubilee is to be a Eucharistic
Year in the Church. It is also why the Archdiocese will celebrate
the feast of Corpus Christi in the year 2000 with a great Eucharistic
assembly in Soldier Field. In the parishes, the Eucharist is to
be both celebrated and adored. As we continue to deepen our understanding
of the Mass and the way we participate in its celebration, I hope
we will also grow in our appreciation of Eucharistic adoration
as a means of grace and growth in holiness. The two are really
different experiences of the same gift, but they should complement
one another because both make us holy. The words and action of
the Eucharistic celebration are complemented by the vision and
rest of Eucharistic adoration.
Writing to young people about the Jubilee, the Holy Father tells
them: Dear young people, go to meet Jesus the Savior! Love and
adore Him in the Eucharist. He is present in the Holy Mass that
makes sacramentally present the sacrifice of the Cross. He comes
into us in Holy Communion and remains in the tabernacles of our
churches, because He is our friend, the friend of all, especially
of you young people, who are so much in need of confidence and
love. ...The twenty-first century will be how you young people
will want it to be and will make it. After so much violence and
oppression, the world needs young people capable of building
bridges to unite and reconcile. ...Only courageous young people,
with minds and hearts open to high and generous ideals, will be
able to restore beauty to life and to human relationships. Then
this Jubilee time will truly be for all a year of the Lords
grace.
The custom of spending time with the Lord in adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament so that He can make us holy is growing in many
dioceses and also in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Over ninety parishes
of the Archdiocese now have some form of adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament, including perpetual adoration in some cases. A Eucharistic
Adoration Association has been formed (based at Marytown in Mundelein
and at 7030 W. 63rd St., Chicago) with Bishop Joseph Perry as
its episcopal moderator. Joan Carter McHugh of Lake Forest has
just published a beautiful book on the Eucharist which explains
not only our beliefs but also speaks of practices inspired by
our faith and, most of all, gives the stories of saints made holy
through devotion to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament (825 S. Waukegan
Rd, Lake Forest). Liguori, the Redemptorist publishing house,
has put out a booklet of prayers and devotions for Eucharistic
Holy Hours. All these I take as signs of a thirst for holiness,
for contact with the Lord in the Eucharist. This contact makes
us Gods holy people and will help make the Jubilee a time of
genuine spiritual renewal. For those looking for ways to grow
closer to Jesus as we begin a new millennium, time spent in adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament is a privileged way. May it be a way
traveled by many more of us as we ask the Lord to make us holy
in the year of Jubilee.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago