I read quite a bit. Sometimes my reading is very intentional, such as reading things for class the next day. I expect it of students; so why not expect it of myself? Other times I read things for no particular reason other than I am curious and am intrigued whether I might learn something. It is like talking with someone---maybe even a stranger---with no real intention in mind except to be in conversation.
I have a few things I regularly read. Many of us have newsletters or magazines from the colleges and universities we attended. When one of mine arrives, I often turn to the class notes section to see if anyone I know is mentioned. I am old enough to check out the obituaries! There are other professional journals I read with regularity. I think it is important for me to keep up with the latest issues in the field of study I chose. I am not reading for some utilitarian purpose---looking for something I am sure I will use. Sometimes I simply want to know for the sake of knowing.
And then I love the times I read something and it so piques my interest I have to reflect on it and then write something like I am doing here. Recently, I read a short essay on holiness. The title of the essay did not exactly tell me it was about holiness. The title read: “Jesus loves imperfect people.” It also had an interesting sub-title: “On that score, all of us qualify.” I smiled in agreement. I noticed the article was by the Jesuit, William O’Malley. I have read things by him and I like how he thinks. Driven by curiosity, I checked out his little biographical entry at the bottom of the essay. He was a long-time teacher who is now described as “living at the Jesuit home for old superheroes at Fordham University.” I liked the humor: a home for old superheroes!
O’Malley begins his essay with this sentence, “Most people I know would cringe at being called ‘holy.’” I agree. Most of us see ourselves as too normal to be holy. I never thought much about why this is true, but O’Malley gave me a good answer why we don’t think about being holy. “Our ideas of holiness are so stringent that even aspiring to it seems presumptuous.” It is at this point he claims Jesus loves imperfect people. Obviously, O’Malley is going to redefine what holiness is and how we might even get there.
Interestingly, he begins by quoting Irenaeus, one of my favorite third centuries guys. Irenaeus affirms, “The glory of God is humanity, fully alive.” He follows this with his own commentary. “Supernatural life is not supranatural, not beyond the limits of human nature, but rather humanity itself superbly fulfilled. What distinguishes humans is the potential to learn and to choose love, or not.” Students often don’t read closely enough to pick up a subtle distinction in his words. He talks about supernatural and supranatural. Supranatural means “above nature” or “beyond nature.” In a sense supranatural is not natural. It is a level to which humans don’t get.
Supernatural, on the other hand, is more like potentiality within the natural. Most of us probably are not there, but we could be---we can get there. This is precisely O’Malley’s point. Supernatural is humanity that is “superbly fulfilled.” The key here is what he means by that phrase. He gives us his two clues. To be superbly fulfilled has to do with learning and with love. What distinguishes us as humans is our potential to learn. Perhaps most of us don’t get there because we don’t actualize our potential. We don’t superbly learn or love. But we can!
O’Malley begins to pursue this logic and I very much like where he goes. He gives us ideas on how to become holy. He says, “Can we entertain the possibility our God-given purpose is to prepare a fully realized recipient for the gift of holiness?” Here is where he begins the switch in the meaning of holiness. He assures us, “Nor is that role limited to purging defects, as so many of us were taught, but more importantly to amplify those potentials of knowing and loving.” We start down the path of holiness---or maybe simply continue on that path---by learning more and loving more.
I begin to think, “I can do it.” In fact, the best side of me wants to do it. We don’t have to be perfect to be holy. O’Malley nails it when he tells us, “Holiness is not a static achievement but a continuing evolution of soul that becomes contagious.” I love the idea of the soul’s evolution. That fits with my sense of what being human is like. We are all evolving. Why would not the soul evolve, too? Done well, our evolution is a process of sanctification. I almost cringe when I type that sentence, because it sounds so pompous and presumptuous. Holiness is anything but those two “p” words!
I close with words of O’Malley because I want his words to become my words. “Holy is really a synonym for expressing these qualities of God (fruits of the Spirit, like love, peace, etc.). Each of those words describes what God intended fully evolved human beings to be. We are the only species whose nature is not a blueprint but an invitation.”
I have a few things I regularly read. Many of us have newsletters or magazines from the colleges and universities we attended. When one of mine arrives, I often turn to the class notes section to see if anyone I know is mentioned. I am old enough to check out the obituaries! There are other professional journals I read with regularity. I think it is important for me to keep up with the latest issues in the field of study I chose. I am not reading for some utilitarian purpose---looking for something I am sure I will use. Sometimes I simply want to know for the sake of knowing.
And then I love the times I read something and it so piques my interest I have to reflect on it and then write something like I am doing here. Recently, I read a short essay on holiness. The title of the essay did not exactly tell me it was about holiness. The title read: “Jesus loves imperfect people.” It also had an interesting sub-title: “On that score, all of us qualify.” I smiled in agreement. I noticed the article was by the Jesuit, William O’Malley. I have read things by him and I like how he thinks. Driven by curiosity, I checked out his little biographical entry at the bottom of the essay. He was a long-time teacher who is now described as “living at the Jesuit home for old superheroes at Fordham University.” I liked the humor: a home for old superheroes!
O’Malley begins his essay with this sentence, “Most people I know would cringe at being called ‘holy.’” I agree. Most of us see ourselves as too normal to be holy. I never thought much about why this is true, but O’Malley gave me a good answer why we don’t think about being holy. “Our ideas of holiness are so stringent that even aspiring to it seems presumptuous.” It is at this point he claims Jesus loves imperfect people. Obviously, O’Malley is going to redefine what holiness is and how we might even get there.
Interestingly, he begins by quoting Irenaeus, one of my favorite third centuries guys. Irenaeus affirms, “The glory of God is humanity, fully alive.” He follows this with his own commentary. “Supernatural life is not supranatural, not beyond the limits of human nature, but rather humanity itself superbly fulfilled. What distinguishes humans is the potential to learn and to choose love, or not.” Students often don’t read closely enough to pick up a subtle distinction in his words. He talks about supernatural and supranatural. Supranatural means “above nature” or “beyond nature.” In a sense supranatural is not natural. It is a level to which humans don’t get.
Supernatural, on the other hand, is more like potentiality within the natural. Most of us probably are not there, but we could be---we can get there. This is precisely O’Malley’s point. Supernatural is humanity that is “superbly fulfilled.” The key here is what he means by that phrase. He gives us his two clues. To be superbly fulfilled has to do with learning and with love. What distinguishes us as humans is our potential to learn. Perhaps most of us don’t get there because we don’t actualize our potential. We don’t superbly learn or love. But we can!
O’Malley begins to pursue this logic and I very much like where he goes. He gives us ideas on how to become holy. He says, “Can we entertain the possibility our God-given purpose is to prepare a fully realized recipient for the gift of holiness?” Here is where he begins the switch in the meaning of holiness. He assures us, “Nor is that role limited to purging defects, as so many of us were taught, but more importantly to amplify those potentials of knowing and loving.” We start down the path of holiness---or maybe simply continue on that path---by learning more and loving more.
I begin to think, “I can do it.” In fact, the best side of me wants to do it. We don’t have to be perfect to be holy. O’Malley nails it when he tells us, “Holiness is not a static achievement but a continuing evolution of soul that becomes contagious.” I love the idea of the soul’s evolution. That fits with my sense of what being human is like. We are all evolving. Why would not the soul evolve, too? Done well, our evolution is a process of sanctification. I almost cringe when I type that sentence, because it sounds so pompous and presumptuous. Holiness is anything but those two “p” words!
I close with words of O’Malley because I want his words to become my words. “Holy is really a synonym for expressing these qualities of God (fruits of the Spirit, like love, peace, etc.). Each of those words describes what God intended fully evolved human beings to be. We are the only species whose nature is not a blueprint but an invitation.”
Comments
Post a Comment