God’s instruments.
Most people expect Christians who exercise some aspect of the apostolate, whether they be priests, religious or laity, to be holy. (To be sure we may hope someone is holy, and pray for their sanctification.) Oftentimes we mistake holiness for outward expressions of piety or devotion. With ourselves, we may fall into the trap of believing ourselves to be holy, especially when we experience sensible devotion, consolations in prayer, or interior lights that inform our actions or speech.
Today’s Gospel for the feast of St. Barnabas records Our Lord’s commission to the disciples to proclaim “The kingdom of heaven is at hand, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, etc.” - Matthew 10. The disciples surely were not holy at this stage of the call. They still argued amongst themselves as to who was the greatest; in their misplaced zeal they desired to call down fire from heaven to destroy the enemies of the Gospel, and of course we know they deserted Our Lord in His passion, and even after the resurrection they had trouble comprehending Our Savior.
The Church is holy, but what about the members?
It wasn’t until Pentecost, when they were filled and animated by the Holy Spirit, did they come to understand the mission entrusted to them. Vivified by the Holy Spirit, they were in turn sanctified, and their vocation was confirmed, as it were. Just so, impelled by the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostolate was made fruitful. In this, I think it is safe to assume, that their holiness was the holiness of the Holy Spirit. For as Christ said to a petitioner, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” - that is, only God is holy. (Of course we know Christ is God and Christ is holy.) Likewise we know that the Church is holy, yet the members may be imperfect, even sinful.
Great expectations.
Frequently people will comment upon some aspect of a priest or bishop, even a lay person’s personality, or upon their life and actions that suggest they are not holy. (Oftentimes this is a petty observation when the subject’s piety or devotion does not accord with the persons making that judgment call.) Sometimes founders of religious orders, such as Fr. Maciel, founder of the Legionnaires of Christ, is defamed and found wanting in perfection.
In Maciel’s case, websites are devoted to ‘exposing his shame’ while attempting to defame the good religious order he founded. Opus Dei suffers similar detraction and calumny, despite the fact the founder is a canonized saint, JoseMaria Escriva. Similarly, the Servants of God, Pius XII, Paul VI, and now John Paul II all endure malicious detraction against their reputation.
Bad priest - bad Mass?
It is well known, that a priest may be in the state of mortal sin, yet if he celebrates holy Mass, he indeed consecrates the bread and wine and confects the Eucharist. Just so if he absolves a penitent of his sin, the person is indeed absolved. We understand this because they are instruments in the Divine action, ordained by God, enriched with charisms, enabling them to fulfill the mission given them. The efficacy of the Mass is not necessarily dependent upon the devotion or reputation for sanctity of the priest, the efficacy is from God.
Conflict from the beginning.
Besides the examples of the disciples, one has only to read the Old Testament to notice that the instruments God chooses are not always holy when involved in exercising their commission from God, even while performing miracles. Moses was denied entrance into the promised land because of his faults, the prophets often ran and hid, rather than fulfill their mission. Rahab was a prostitute who did God’s will. The Judges in the Old Testament, chosen by God, were not always holy people. And of course we have the examples of King David and Solomon - were they holy? Not so much.
Just so, from the Acts of the Apostles throughout the epistles, we read the record of factions, in-fighting, and not a little controversy. Thus throughout the history of the Church, we see, in some eras more conspicuously than others, that Christians haven’t always been very holy. Even popes have been rascals, although the Church endures as one, holy and apostolic Catholic Church. Despite all of these facts, it does not take away from the truth that the Holy Spirit guides and acts in the Church, nor does it detract from the deposit of faith, nor the magisterial teachings or decrees promulgated by the legitimate authority of the Church.
The saint’s holiness.
This is also another reason why a person is never canonized for the charisms he may have exhibited - not even for the miracles during his lifetime, much less, mystical graces such as visions, stigmata, etc. The person is canonized for heroic virtue, how well they lived (or if they were martyrs, died) in cooperation with the Holy Spirit - the preeminent sanctifier. The extensive investigations into the life of the candidate include the examination of this evidence, which is evidenced in how they lived the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, as well as how the gifts of the Holy Spirit were manifest in their lives, such as prudence, counsel, and so on.
Only God is holy.
Just because a person may receive locutions or apparitions, or heal the sick, or simply be able to pray for hours, or fast for days, or experience wonderful consolations and recollection, or write glorious things about the faith, or preach to thousands, this in no way means they are holy. Likewise, just because a person doesn’t measure up to our litmus test of what is true devotion or piety, we may not therefore assume that person is evil.
The holy person is the one who is possessed by the Holy Spirit - He alone sanctifies us and our mission, the mission we received at Baptism. The words of Fr. Eugene-Marie of the Child Jesus, OCD may shed better light upon what I am trying to say, when he wrote:
“We have God with us, it is true, but there are different ways to have God with us. The presence of God within our soulis given us by baptism. This presence is real, but it is not the same as God’s possesion of the soul. To be perfect apostles we need to be possessed by the Holy Spirit. A merely technical preparation for the apostolate does not suffice. It is not enough to learn about methods, communication skills, various means of capturing audiences, or how to adapt to circumstances. Being perfect apostles means, basically, being possessed by the Holy Spirit, and prepration for this may take a long time.”- Where the Spirit Breathes, Marie-Eugene
The log in our own eye can blind us.
I often think of the counsel of St. John of the Cross regarding our tendency to value one person over another as regards their perceived holiness or evil. If I remember correctly it goes like this: “Esteem no man as holy, for the devil will show you his faults.” -Maxims, Collected Works. The Devil likes to show everyone’s faults, making sure to hide ours - but only from our own eyes.
[Art: William Blake, "Fall of Satan"]
