The Freedom of Having a Single Purpose: Holiness

The other week I had the opportunity to speak with the St. Rose 6^th grade class about the saints, which was enjoyable because the students seemed very receptive to what was being said (or they’re very accommodating to a blubbering seminarian). When I try to present some topic in theology or any discipline, I begin broadly and gradually bring it down to the particular. Maybe that is one of the pitfalls of being a student of history and philosophy, painting with broad strokes when people want to look at one tree in a landscape. That being said, without saying I was doing so, I touched on Trinitarian theology, philosophy of God, Incarnation, soteriology and divinization, Christian anthropology and ecclesiology, and the students followed it well. A lesson to us all to not underestimate the capacity of youth for deep philosophical and theological thought!

Anyway, after making our way to the saints themselves, I ended the class by asking if any of the students had heard the following phrase: “You can do (or be) anything you put your mind to.” Most said yes, and I asked them if it was a good phrase. Again, most said yes, and then I asked if it’s always true, and the majority said no. They said that it’s not true for fantastic desires, like being able to fly or any other superpower, and I took it one step further, knowing at this point that I might get angry parent letters.

The problem with this phrase, it seems to me, is that it promises as full proof what can never be guaranteed. If the phrase was, “You can try anything you put your mind to,” then it might be more rationally defensible. We can try all sorts of things and succeed or fail, immediately or gradually. However, to do something as a habit of excellence or become something often does not work out in practical experience even if we give something our all. For example, say someone wanted to become the president of the United States, and that person directed all of his or her energies toward that task. What if all of the following were in place: local politics, advocacy, gubernatorial elections, a solid platform, likeable personality, an eloquent speaker, advertising, and the desire to win? No one could doubt that that person had put his or her whole being to the task of becoming president. Nevertheless, even though that person gives his or her all, he or she could still lose the election and not actualize that desire. He or she could try again and again, and that person might not win any presidential election during his or her lifetime. As another example, think of the Olympic Games. This is the meeting of the top athletes in the world who have given themselves totally to becoming excellent at a specific sport. In the end, though no one can doubt each person’s sincerity in giving their all, there will be one person who wins the gold medal.

It appears that this phrase has value insofar as it encourages children to dedicate themselves to higher challenges, but if it is received like a scientific formula, then it sets people up for failure or the destruction of their self-worth (e.g. “I put my mind to this and still could not do this; I am worthless). This would be an incredibly sad and existentially troubling set of affairs if my ultimate purpose in life was dependent on contingent realities. In other words, if my entire reason for existing were bound up in circumstances outside my control, how could I not despair? Would not that be the only appropriate response?

The good news, or even great news, is that my existential purpose and each human being’s purpose are singular and can be actualized regardless of the particular circumstances of one’s life. Holiness, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us, is the primary vocational call of each member of the Christian faithful (Lumen Gentium 40). Even those not yet baptized are ultimately called to this intimacy with the Blessed Trinity which begins in this life and finds its fullness in the next: “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life” (CCC 1). With this in mind, that problematic statement I have been discussing can be adjusted in this way to be consistently true: “You can become what you were made to be when you abandon yourself to God’s purpose for you.” Okay, I know this does not roll off the tongue as well as the original phrase, but at least it’s true! Ultimate union with God in heaven forever, which begins on earth, is the blueprint for every human person: past, present and future. Whether someone is young or old, male or female, rich or poor, this ethnicity or that ethnicity, educated or uneducated, etc., this call remains constant and worthy of all of our trust. Furthermore, God has not written this desire on the human heart for it to remain unfulfilled or impossible; how cruel that would be! Rather, as St. Paul tells us, God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). In giving us His Son for our salvation, the Father has given us EVERYTHING. The great comedy, if you will, is that God has spared no expense for us to be saints, and the great tragedy is that we are the only ones who can ultimately prevent ourselves from becoming so. Yes, it is true that the devil and lesser demons try to tempt us away from God’s love; yes, it is true that the malice of others can severely affect our spiritual and human development; yes, it is true that we can be buffeted by the culture in which we live. Nevertheless, the superabundant grace that God has given us in Christ Jesus is effective precisely in those moments of trial and tribulation. His grace is not only accessible when “things are going well.” No, the Lord gently reminds us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). If then, those life circumstances are identified for what they really are, i.e. neutral realities, then it becomes clear that the one variable that determines whether or not we become the saints God has made us to be is our ultimate yes or no to that plan.

Let us give our all to the one thing for which we were made, the one thing that will ultimately make us happy, the one thing that is actually possible in life: HOLINESS.