Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan - Called to Be Holy

Called to Be Holy

Called to Be Holy

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

Huntington, Indiana 46750

The Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Catechism excerpts are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, for use in the United States of America, copyright 1994 and 1997, United States Catholic Conference Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

English translations of Gaudium et Spes, Dei Verbum, Lumen Gentium, and Ad Gentes from the Vatican website, www.vatican.va.

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Copyright 2005 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division,
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. Published 2005.

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ISBN: 1-59276-072-4 (Inventory No. T123)

LCCN: 2004117317

Cover design by Monica Haneline

Cover photo is The Universal Call to Holiness, Basilica of the National

Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.

Interior design by Sherri L. Hoffman

P RINTED IN THE U NITED S TATES OF A MERICA

To Lisa, Chris, Kelly, and Shannon,
who taught me a lot about grace, faith, and holiness.

Contents

Foreword

You cant miss it. It covers the south wall of the Great Main Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It is called The Universal Call to Holiness. It depicts men and women, children to senior citizens, rich and poor, black, white, red, brown, and yellow, farmers, factory laborers, business executives, married couples and single, all striving for a deeper union with Jesus.

It is a catechetical tool for one of the most poignant teachings of the Second Vatican Council: that the summons to sanctity is at the core of Christian discipleship, an imperative for every baptized person. It is indeed a universal call to holiness. The challenge to virtue, sanctity, and perfection is not limited to monks and nuns, but is a charge to all.

It took an ecumenical council to remind us that, but it is hardly a new teaching. It is so clear in the preaching of Jesus. It was a refrain in great saints such as Francis de Sales, Thrse of Liseiux, and Jose Maria Escriva.

And it is clear in this little book. The chapters herein were originally conferences I gave to priests and seminarians while rector of the North American College in Rome, published by Our Sunday Visitor as Priests for the Third Millennium. Some readers graciously observed that a lot of the book would be appropriate for lay people as well.

They are right! Thats what we call the universal call to holiness!

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, What do you seek? And they said to him, Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him.

Jn. 1: 3539

Chapter 1

Being Good Stewards with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Only Reason We Exist

It is with the account from the Gospel of St. John of the Masters invitation Come and see and of the disciples acceptance so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him that I wish to begin because, of course, Jesus Christ is the only real reason we exist. He is the One who calls and the One who empowers us to respond to His call; He is the end for which we strive; He is the means to that end; without Him, we can do nothing; with Him, nothing is impossible. Everything we embark upon is for, with, through, and because of Jesus Christ.

As St. Paul wrote to the Colossians:

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Col. 1:1520

Here is the key to our spiritual growth: a faithful, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. As theologian Karl Rahner writes, holiness is participation in the intimate union between Father and Son, led by the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the way to accomplish this through the truth He teaches, and the life He imparts. Listen to these poetic words of Pope Paul VI:

Jesus is Christ, the Son of the Living God. Because of Him we come to know the God we cannot see. He is the firstborn of all creation, in Him all things find their being. Our teacher and redeemer, He was born for us, died for us, and for us rose from the dead.

All things converge in Christ. A man of sorrow and hope, He knows us and loves us. As our friend, He stays with us throughout our lives; at the end of time He will come to be our judge; but we also know that He will be the complete fulfillment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity.

I can never cease to speak of Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our bread, our living water, who allays our hunger and satisfies our thirst. He is our shepherd, our leader, our ideal, our comforter, and our brother.

Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, Lord of the universe, the great hidden key to human history and the part we play in it. He is the mediator between heaven and earth, true God and true Man.

To know Jesus, to hear Jesus, to love Jesus, to trust Jesus, to obey Jesus, to share His life in the deepest fiber of our being, and then to serve Him this is our goal. Beware, though. As Cardinal William Baum once preached, The danger is to know about Jesus without knowing Him, to talk about Jesus but not to Him, to listen to experts speak of Him without letting Him speak about Himself. A deep, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is the foundation of holiness!

Seek ye first the kingdom of God! exhorts Our Lord. The primacy of the spiritual! Stewardship of the supernatural gifts of grace, faith, mercy, prayer, sacraments, and vocation that the Lord gives us! Stewardship, of course, means a responsible care for the gifts entrusted to us.