I am sure many people could say that at some point in their life they have met someone who is obviously holy. I know I have, several times. As Lent begins, it would be good to reflect on what habits or characteristics (virtues) a holy person typically possesses that might kindle a desire within our hearts to grow in those areas also. Of these, humility is the trait which seems to be a shared characteristic among all the saints, (those canonized and those who remain hidden but for our experience of them). Their humility is expressed in selflessness and a life of service which seems to flow naturally. However, their humility is rooted in a life of prayer which builds up an intimate relationship with God from whom all graces flow. Therefore, it is clear that if we desire to grow in holiness we need to foster a relationship with God; the more our relationship grows, the more His love and mercy are received, and the more these are received, the greater our love of Him becomes. What we notice in holy people is that they love the Lord so much that as a response humble actions of love and mercy are offered freely to those they encounter. No matter what hardships or suffering they might endure, they continue to do all they can to make God known and loved, building up the Body of Christ, the Church. 

The great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar once said, “The saints are those who disappear into the mission of the Church.” This disappearing is an act of aligning themselves completely with what Jesus taught and the apostles built upon. Von Balthasar was referring to the action of a humble heart; ‘disappearing’ is not the obliteration of one’s sense of self, but rather a becoming one with the mission Jesus gave His first disciples. He told them to go to the towns of Israel with a simple message, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” but His emphasis was on curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and driving out demons. (Matthew 10:6-8) In other words, He wanted them to speak less and act more. Jesus was aware that people were in need of teaching, but He also knew that it is authenticity in actions, (living what we profess), that makes the deepest impression. Therefore, if we live the gospel message in humility, those whom we serve, even with simple acts of kindness, will eventually want to know more about the One we follow. We can be as eloquent as St. Paul, but if our words do not match our deeds, it will not make much of a difference.* 

​Unfortunately, many people do not understand what humility is really about. True humility is not self-deprecation, and so ‘disappearing’ does not mean we are to see ourselves as unimportant; rather, the true humility we seek is to know who we are, acknowledging this reality with gratitude to God. If we are fully grounded in knowledge of ourselves, our weaknesses and strengths, sinful tendencies and giftedness, errors and successes, recognizing who we are before God and trying to live in accord with His will, then we are humble. The humble are full of gratitude which arises from acceptance of the mercy God offers; as sinners they know that they do not deserve it, but they accept it gladly as gift of love from God. This knowledge enables them to see those who may be struggling with life, perhaps with addictions, bad habits, loss of faith, or who are treated as outcasts, reaching out to them in love, accepting them as brothers and sisters. The wonderful thing about humility is that it enables one to love without judgment of the other and to see beyond exterior characteristics and society’s labels. In other words, it enables them to see as Jesus sees and therefore to love as He loves, too. 

An integral aspect of true humility is the recognition that in truth we have absolutely nothing to offer God that He does not already have, except for one thing: the poverty of our heart offered in love to Him. And the offer of our heart to Him is all God really desires. God will fill our battered and broken heart with His grace and therefore we will be moved to make a response of love and gratitude. This process is enabled through prayer (especially with Scripture), repentance, fasting, and abstinence. Especially beneficial is time spent meditating upon the freely chosen suffering of Jesus during His Passion, meditating on the immensity of the love we don’t deserve, but receive anyway as His gift of unfathomable, limitless mercy. And of course, these are the practices the Church emphasizes during the season of Lent. They enable us to enter into His suffering, to repent for our part in it, and assist our growth in holiness through increased understanding of God’s love and mercy. 

​Finally, if there is one thing that the saints universally offer it is this rather simple ‘formula’ for holiness: to humbly love Jesus and Mary as much as we can. Mary is the perfect model of humility who always points us to her Son whom she loves with the purest love there is. When we love them as much as possible it will move us to always seek to please them, and therefore, to act with humility in holiness. Thus, with grace our focus will be greater than disappearing into the mission of the Church, but rather, our desire will be to disappear into the very heart of Christ.

May we desire to grow in humility as a loving response to God! May we seek to become one with the mission of the Church, the Body of Christ! And may we seek to love Jesus and Mary more and more so that in loving them, we ‘preach,’ and therefore share, this love with others! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!

​                               ©Michele L. Catanese


*A good example is found in the Gospel of John when Jesus healed the man born blind in Jerusalem. A short while after the encounter the man sought Jesus out and subsequently professed his faith: “I do believe, Lord!” (John 9:37-39) In this case it was the mercy of Jesus that built up his faith; it was the action of mercy, rather than words.

“You should above all insist on what is the foundation of the Christian sanctity and the foundation of kindness: on the virtue from which our divine Teacher and our angelic Father proposed to us as models. I am talking about humility: internal and external humility, more internal than external, more by living it than shown, more profound than visible.”
Letter of Padre Pio, August 19th, 1918, to Fr Gerardo da Deliceto 

Images:
1. My photo; the bed of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, taken in Pollone, Italy.
2. Painting; He Sent Them Out Two by Two, by James Tissot. For more: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4517
3. Painting; The Road Menders, by Vincent van Gogh.
4. My photo; view in Iceland, near Reykjavik. 
5. Icon; The Three Handed Mother of God, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. To obtain a copy of this icon in one of many mediums, go to https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-three-handed-mother-of-god-102-william-hart-mcnichols.html
For an explanation of the significance of why Mary is written with three hands in this icon, go to www.oca.org/saints/lives/2017/06/28/101839-icon-of-the-mother-of-god-of-the-three-hands
I chose this because I see the three hands in this way: one is pointing to Jesus, which Mary always does; the second is holding Jesus which represents her role as His mother, and the third is a hand beckoning us to come near, perhaps to share intimacy with Jesus or simply to follow.
6. My photo; flowers, taken in Granna, Sweden. St. Thérèse of Lisieux said she wanted to be a little flower in God's garden: that is the statement of a humble, holy woman.
​
Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. 

Pablo Picasso once said, “To draw you must close your eyes and sing.” I don’t believe his statement was saying that everyone can draw if only they sing: no matter how much I sing, I still cannot draw so much as a straight line with a ruler. Rather, it seems Picasso was referring to an interior movement that occurs when one looks within and discovers beauty in a new way. He seemed to understand that beauty in one form can inspire it in another, and that somehow the process serves as the catalyst for expression. But his comment also implies that it is through inner freedom that creativity can take flight. This response means that getting in touch with the beauty deep within will somehow effect how we relate with what is exterior. In other words, as we encounter the beauty of God and how He is reflected within us, our vision transforms such that we recognize beauty in the world, and particularly in others, in an entirely new way. In this Year of Prayer, then, we are invited to learn to ‘see’ the beauty of God more clearly so that our response, or our ‘singing,’ might touch others as we reflect His presence in word and deed. 

​A way to learn to see beauty (as God does) is to spend time in prayer so that we can grow in understanding of who we are as those made in God’s own image and likeness, and for growth in intimacy with Him through the gift of His grace. Simply put, grace is another name for God’s beauty which He delights in extending to us. A perfect example of how grace is connected to beauty is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Those to whom she has appeared always describe her as beautiful beyond description. This should not be a surprise because Mary is full of grace which means there is no room for sin in her immaculate heart; she is pure. Another example is that of the Beatitudes taught by Jesus. (Matthew 5: 1-12) We can see the root of the word ‘beauty’ in beatitude, we know that each of the beatitudes begins “Blessed are ….” and that the word ‘blessed’ can be translated as ‘happy’ or ‘holy;* so it would not be a stretch to replace the word ‘blessed’ with ‘beautiful’ during prayerful reflection. We would then read, “Beautiful are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and so forth. Prayerfully reading the entire passage in this way can change our perception and therefore, our response to Jesus. The more we embrace this understanding of how God sees us and accept it as our own, the more beautiful our souls become, or rather, the holier we become.

Coming in contact with our own beauty will elicit a response because beauty cannot stay hidden. Right after He gave the Beatitudes Jesus taught that we are not to hide our light under a bushel basket, but that we are to let our light shine. (Matthew 5:14-16)  That light first affects our vision so that we see more clearly and do not stumble as readily. Only when we can see, is our light able to illuminate others. It is through this prayerful process that we will no longer have to close our eyes and sing, but we will see beauty with open eyes, and perhaps then we will sing for joy. A person who lives the beatitudes and has discovered their own interior beauty will now view others not by their physical characteristics, cognitive abilities, vocal eloquence, ethnicity, or socio-economic status, but instead they will see them as a child of God, beautiful to behold. This is not to say that we delude ourselves into not seeing evil (which is truly ugly), or that we deny the presence of pain and suffering. Rather, it is that we will learn to see with God’s eyes and to not be afraid of offering service, love, and mercy, especially to those who are outcast, poor, strangers, or ill. ​

A story of St. Francis of Assisi illustrates this point. Even after his conversion he remained terrified of lepers, regarding them as so abhorrent that he was unable to even look upon them. One day as he was walking he saw a leper approaching, and strongly repulsed, he considered crossing to the opposite side of the road to avoid the man. But somehow Francis continued on, praying to conquer his fear. By the time he and the man met, Francis wholeheartedly embraced him and even kissed him on his sores. What changed within Francis was that he began to see this man as Christ, that is, as beautiful, thereby losing all his previous revulsion. It is important to note however, that what makes this truly moving is that St. Francis did not merely see past the exterior disfigurement and decay, but rather, he saw the man exactly as he was, and in this he saw beauty, loving him as a brother. 

When we become familiar with beauty, the way we see will change. Our vision broadens, transfigures, and matures through the recognition of the presence of God whether it is within another person or in His beauty reflected in something as seemingly trivial as a stone. Prayer anywhere, at any time, will open our vision, but seeking Jesus in the quiet of our daily, private prayer time is the most effective way for grace to transform our hearts. And there is always the possibility that when we "close our eyes and sing," we will hear the Lord singing with us, too.
​
May we learn how to "close our eyes and sing" so that we can learn to see beauty as God does! May we be like St. Francis, seeing people exactly as they are and loving them in their true beauty! And may we be inspired by grace to live the Beatitudes more fully! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!

                                                             ©Michele L. Catanese

* If you did not see it, a few months ago I wrote an entry in this blog that contained some insights on the Beatitudes and the translation of the word “blessed.” It was called “The Gospel Within the Gospels,” posted June, 2023. Here is the link: https://www.catanesesd.com/micheles-blog/the-gospel-within-the-gospels

Images:
1. My photo; Brown Pelican in flight, Matagorda Bay, Matagorda, Texas.
2. Icon; Our Lady of Grace Vladimir, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. If you are interested in a copy in one of many mediums you can find it at fineartamerica.com/featured/our-lady-of-grace-vladimir-002-william-hart-mcnichols.html
3. My photo; Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, Port Aransas, Texas
4. My photo; trail in Lost Maples Natural Area, Vanderpool, Texas.
5. Oil painting; Mediterranean Landscape, by Pablo Picasso, 1952. This painting hangs in the Albertina Museum, Vienna.

Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time.