Holiness is personal but meant to be shared

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S right! While everyone is encouraged to pursue holiness, we have to understand that holiness should not just be kept to oneself. That would not be true holiness. Holiness, by the mere fact that we are all persons meant to always enter into relation with others, is also meant to be shared.

That’s why this business of personal sanctification cannot be separated from the duty to do apostolate. That’s because we are all in the same boat, we actually form one body in Christ, we are one family, and we just have to help one another to pursue our common ultimate goal, despite whatever differences and conflicts we may have with one another.

Sanctification and apostolate always go together, mutually helping each other. We cannot sanctify ourselves without doing apostolate. And our apostolate would be gravely undermined if we are not sanctifying ourselves. As one saint would put it, apostolate is the overflow of one’s interior life, i.e., one’s continuing work of sanctification.

This pair can never be separated, since holiness by definition involves not only loving God but also loving others with God’s love. Holiness will always be apostolic. It necessarily involves entering into the lives of others for God. That is why we are properly wired, so to speak, for this purpose, because we have been endowed with intelligence and will so we can enter into the lives of others.

If we would just understand well the relationship between holiness and apostolate, and work on it, for sure we would have a lot of peace and joy in our life, and the world would be a much better place to live in. Justice, mercy and the truth would be much better served.

In integrating the pursuit of holiness and apostolate, we have to acknowledge the indispensable role of the cross of Christ. That cross is the necessary cure for our weaknesses and what would make up for our mistakes, failures and sins. That cross is where we can truly find Christ.

When Christ said that he is the “way, the truth and the life,” he must have the cross in mind, since in another part of the gospel, he clearly said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mt 16,24)

We have to learn to make the cross, in whatever form it comes, an integral and essential part of our daily life. We should not wait for it to come. We have to look for it everyday, and in every circumstance. We actually need it more than we need air.

And when it comes without our looking for it, let’s be quick to identify it with the Cross of Christ. Let’s not waste time suffering our life’s crosses purely on our own. We need to suffer them with Christ. Everything needs to be referred to Christ on the cross. The cross should be a way to identify ourselves with Christ who is the very embodiment of holiness and love for everyone.

Then there would be nothing in our life that would prevent us from pursuing holiness and apostolate with passion. Not even our sins can weaken that passion. When referred to Christ’s cross, our mistakes, failures and sins can become tremendous spurs to get us closer to God and to others. Thus, no matter how often we fail, we should just continue pursuing this business of sanctification and apostolate.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com