Way of Holiness

Living a holy life here on earth doesn't mean never making a mistake or falling into sin. In fact, trying to conform to our internally conceived notion of perfection can actually be a hindrance to spiritual growth. The saints help us understand this. Many were flagrant sinners before their initial conversion, and afterwards they were not suddenly perfect in every way. They were human, and yet they are still models for us because they were truly repentant of their sins, and allowed God to convert them more and more in each experience.

Pope Benedict XVI took the occassion of his General Audience on January 31, 2007 to touch briefly on this theme during a longer talk. He was examining the interactions between Saint Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Apollos in their spreading of the Gospel, and had this to say:

"The two, Paul and Barnabas, disagreed at the beginning of the second missionary journey because Barnabas was determined to take with them as a companion John called Mark, whereas Paul was against it, since the young man had deserted them during their previous journey (cf. Acts 13: 13; 15: 36-40).

Hence there are also disputes, disagreements and controversies among saints. And I find this very comforting, because we see that the saints have not 'fallen from Heaven'. They are people like us, who also have complicated problems.

Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again and, especially, for reconciliation and forgiveness.

So it was that Paul, who had been somewhat harsh and bitter with regard to Mark, in the end found himself with him once again. In St Paul's last Letters, to Philemon and in his Second Letter to Timothy, Mark actually appears as one of his 'fellow workers'.

Consequently, it is not the fact that we have never erred but our capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness which makes us saints. And we can all learn this way of holiness."