Sunday, February 19, 2012

Holiness



In today's society we don't hear much about good role models. In fact, we hear more about Snooki and The Situation then we hear about saints. This past Saturday there was a consistory held in St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican. Archbishop of New York, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, was elevated to the rank of Cardinal Priest. With this new position for the jovial Cardinal of New York comes a slew of new responsibilities. Among them have yet to be decided, but the single greatest responsibility of the College of Cardinals is to elect a Pope after the reigning Pope dies.

But I digress, the title of this post is holiness. When Cardinal Dolan was interviewed he was asked what aspirations were most important to him he answered like this: 
The man wants to be a SAINT! That is after all the highest calling in the Christian life.

I had the pleasure of meeting Cardinal Dolan, (then Archbishop Dolan) at a Catholic Underground event in Manhattan back in December of 2011. He was presiding at Evening Prayer and Adoration. It struck me, at the time that the Magnificat was sung, The then Archbishop walked out from his chair, all with a smile, gazing at the people in the congregation he had a smile. It was a very pensive/ contemplative smile. I think that it was an intense prayer for the people of and in his Archdiocese, of whom he is the Chief Shepherd.

Durning the adoration portion of the evening, Cardinal Dolan was on a kneeler before the Blessed Sacrament and he was in deep prayer. As I gazed upon the Archbishop's face I saw a look of pain, worry, and pressure. He was deep in prayer for the people of his Archdiocese. After a period of prayer he got up, took off his cope, and walked over to a near by priest who was hearing confessions and he went to confession. It was a truly inspiring experience to watch the Archbishop pray and connect with God. I saw a human side to the Archbishop in that period and I saw the joy that he has as well as his striving for holiness. He wants to be a saint. So should all of us.

Strive to be Saints.


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