Albert Haase - Practical Holiness: Pope Francis as Spiritual Companion

PRACTICAL
HOLINESS

OTHER BOOKS AND MEDIA BY ALBERT HAASE, OFM

Swimming in the Sun:

Rediscovering the Lords Prayer with Francis of Assisi and Thomas Merton

Enkindled: Holy Spirit, Holy Gifts,

coauthored with Bridget Haase, OSU

Instruments of Christ:

Reflections on the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Coming Home to Your True Self:

Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions

Living the Lords Prayer:

The Way of the Disciple

The Lords Prayer: A Summary of the Entire Gospel

(Five CDs)

This Sacred Moment:

Becoming Holy Right Where You Are

The Life of Antony of Egypt: by Athanasius ,

A Paraphrase

Catching Fire, Becoming Flame: A Guide for Spiritual Transformation

Catching Fire, Becoming Flame: A Guide for Spiritual Transformation

(DVD/Video)

Keeping the Fire Alive: Navigating Challenges in the Spiritual Life

(DVD/Video)

Come, Follow Me: Six Responses to the Call of Jesus

(DVD/Video)

Saying Yes: Discovering and Responding to Gods Will in Your Life

Saying Yes: What is Gods Will for Me?

(DVD/Video)

Becoming an Ordinary Mystic:

Spirituality for the Rest of Us

ALBERT HAASE, OFM

PRACTICAL
HOLINESS

POPE FRANCIS
AS SPIRITUAL
COMPANION

2019 First Printing

Practical Holiness: Pope Francis as Spiritual Companion

Copyright 2019 Franciscan Friars of the State of Missouri

ISBN 978-1-64060-197-0

Scripture quotations not taken verbatim from Gaudete et Exsultate are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from Gaudete et Exsultate are copyright by Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are used by permission. They are given verbatim as they appeared in that papal exhortation.

The Paraclete Press name and logo (dove on cross) are trademarks of Paraclete Press, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Paraclete Press

Brewster, Massachusetts

Printed in the United States of America

My modest goal is to repropose
the call to holiness in a practical
way for our own time, with
all its risks, challenges and
opportunities (2).

POPE FRANCIS,
Gaudete et Exsultate

CONTENTS

Introduction

P ope Francis is sending a message, I thought to myself. An archbishop, not a cardinal, and two laypeople led the press conference.

On Monday, April 9, 2018, at 12:15pm, Archbishop Angelo De Donatis, the popes Vicar of Rome, Paola Bignardi, head of the widespread lay movement Azione Cattolica, and Gianni Valente, a well-known Italian journalist and personal friend of Pope Francis, presented to the universal Church Gaudete et Exsultate, the popes apostolic exhortation on holiness in the contemporary world. The fact that not a single official from any Vatican office was present intensified the popes nonverbal message: this document was not meant for spiritual elites but for the ordinary person in the pew.

I was preaching in St. Johns, Newfoundland, when Rejoice and Be Glad: On Holiness in the Contemporary World, its English title, was released. Less than an hour later, I downloaded the text and began to read it. With each paragraph, a wave of enthusiasm washed over me. I quickly realized this text was the advice of a wise spiritual director or companion (I use the words interchangeably) who wanted to highlight the risks, challenges and opportunities (2) we all face in fulfilling our vocation to become saints.

As a spiritual director and trainer of spiritual directors, I am constantly on the lookout for wise, practical guidance in all matters spiritual. In this apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis offers us just that, and more. He highlights not only the pitfalls and challenges of the spiritual life, but also those moments when, unbeknownst to us, grace is offered. More than a pep talk to continue the spiritual journey, Gaudete et Exsultate is a compendium of astute advice and down-to-earth spirituality offered by an eighty-one-year-old spiritual director who just so happens to be the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Practical Holiness: Pope Francis as Spiritual Companion contains my thoughts, reflections, and musings on this apostolic exhortation. Pope Francis is not the tightest of writerssometimes a paragraph reads more like a stream of consciousness with a word association connecting one sentence to the next. Ill present his wisdom in a more direct and understandable way. In one place he uses a Greek word, and in two other places English words I had to look up in the dictionary. Dont worryIll help you with his meaning. Ill tell you a little about the saints he mentions in passing and assumes we know. Ill share with you my reactions and some stories that the text brought to mind. When I quote the text, I indicate the paragraph number in parentheses; when my paragraph includes multiple quotes from the same numbered paragraph of the apostolic exhortation, I indicate the paragraph number only in the last quote. My five chapter titles mirror those of the exhortation. When I introduce you to my spiritual directees and friends, please know Ive changed their names and circumstances to protect their privacy.

As you read this book, I hope you will be motivated to get a copy of Gaudete et Exsultate and reflect upon it for yourself. There are several good printed editions available. You can also download a free copy at http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20180319_gaudete-et-exsultate.html. Youll discover the wisdom of a holy and practical man. Youll also discover that Pope Francis is no nonchalant tourist to otherworldly realms but an experienced companion for the spiritual journey. His GPS tracker to holiness, firmly rooted in Scripture and Christian tradition, does not take us down secret, difficult passageways and up narrow, rarefied peaks requiring spiritual Sherpas with superhuman skills and esoteric knowledge. Instead, his GPS simply indicates our current location and gives us the time-honored directions used by all the saints: find your own unique way of living the practical challenges of the Beatitudes right here, right now.

ALBERT HAASE, OFM

Feast of All Saints

CHAPTER 1

The Call to Holiness

O n a chilly afternoon and twenty minutes early for her first spiritual direction appointment, Beverly arrived, nervously clutching a spent Kleenex as she patted beads of perspiration on her forehead.

Eager, nervous, or scared? I didnt know.

We sat down. She blurted out, My life is a mess.

Discouraged or maybe depressed. I beg your pardon?

My life is a mess. I just dont know where to begin. I look over the past fifty years. I wonder how I got here.