We asked Neil Darragh to respond to Pope Francis’s new exhortation to all Christians, Gaudete et Exsultate, on the call to holiness in today’s world.

Pope Francis’s “modest goal”, as he calls it, in this Exhortation is to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our time. He does this in an invitation that is like a symphony in three movements.

The first movement presents us with a single strong theme: everyone, all of us, is called to holiness. There is no special status in the Church or in society that is holier than others. He suggests, too, that holiness, while it may sometimes call for great heroism or radical decisions, will normally grow in us through small gestures — every minute of our lives can be a step along the path to holiness. We can learn from saints, both the “canonised” saints and the “saints next door” — the people we meet every day. The bottom line, though, is that each of us has to discern our own path using our own God-given gifts rather than try to imitate someone else.

The second movement is an answer to the question most of us will have been asking all through the first movement: What is holiness? Francis is clear in his answer: the Beatitudes which begin Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 5:1-12) are like a Christian’s identity card. To be “holy” is to be “blessed” or “happy” like the people described in the Beatitudes who are poor in spirit, are gentle, mourn, hunger and thirst for justice, are merciful, pure in heart, peace-makers, and, yes, persecuted for justice’s sake. And the final test for what it means to be holy lies in Matthew’s last judgement story (Mt 25:31-46): “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

The third movement in Francis’s re-proposing of the call to holiness seeks to translate that biblical answer into a modern day answer. Here he highlights five spiritual attitudes or “signs of holiness in today’s world” which he considers great expressions of love for God and neighbour that are particularly important in today’s culture.

1. Perseverance, patience and meekness. Holiness has a solid grounding in the God who loves us; it is an inner strength to persevere amid life’s ups and downs.
2. Joy and a sense of humour. Holiness, though remaining completely realistic, radiates a positive and hopeful spirit.
3. Boldness and passion. Holiness is enthusiasm, an apostolic fervour, the freedom to speak out.
4. In community. Growth in holiness is a journey in community, side by side with others.
5. In constant prayer. Holiness consists in a habitual openness to the transcendent, expressed in prayer and adoration.

Through these major movements of the Exhortation are woven more negative but realistic themes about the “enemies” of holiness and the dangers in today’s culture. In this mood, the short final chapter is concerned with spiritual combat and discernment.

This whole Exhortation is focused on personal spiritual growth. It seldom expands into the wider implications of holiness for the Church, the wider society, or planet Earth. It often quotes holy women, for example, yet does not expand into the implications of this for a Church which severely limits the active participation of women. It emphasises that there are no statuses holier than others yet does not address the effects of clericalism in the Catholic Church today. It alludes to but does not spell out the implications of this personal holiness for social justice or care of the Earth — topics on which Pope Francis has already produced major documents.

Yet this strong single focus on personal spiritual growth means that the Exhortation is more readable and more coherent than previous major papal documents. This is something for which we can be thankful. We might remain just a little uneasy nevertheless about the idea of “today’s culture” (a single common culture?) that is an important background to this Exhortation. It will be up to us rather than to the pope to work out how his “spiritual attitudes” can be played, not so much in tune with a single “todays culture”, but with the several different cultures that are such intimate impulses in our spiritual growth and our relationships today.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 227, June 2018: 19.