Denver Catholic

23 DENVER CATHOLIC | NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 8, 2017 Bishop's Column Most Rev. Jorge Rodriguez That which you most desire I n our Catholic tradition, we esteem the saints of heaven and ask them to help us with their prayers. But along with the assistance brought us by their intercession, these brothers and sisters of ours awaken in us a dream, a dream that is sometimes dormant — the dream of becoming saints like they are. The saints are part of the great crowd of men and women that the Book of Revelation describes as innu- merable, from every race and nation, clothed in white robes and adoring the Lamb in the he avenly liturgy. Only God knows the name of every one of them. But many of them are perhaps people we knew or our own loved ones.¦ All of them motivate us to turn our gaze heavenward and they bring us to discover in the depths of our hearts the most sincere and authentic long- ing we experience: The longing to be saints.¦ Why can this desire for sanctity never be extinguished in our hearts? Because that's how God made us: To be saints. This longing is sealed within every spiritual "cell" of our souls. Because, as St. Augustine said, "You have made us for yourselves O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." Sanctity is that which belongs only to God. God alone is Holy. Sanctity is the beauty, the goodness, and the splendor of God who is love. Only by contact with him can one become holy. Thus, sanctity can be under- stood as a relationship of love. This is also what we understand by "life of grace," that is, a life lived in the love of God. Our hearts were made to love, and for nothing else. Hate does violence to our hearts. Thus, if you were to ask your heart what it most sincerely desires, it would unques- tionably respond that it only wants to love, but that its thirst for love can not be quenched until it is full of Love itself, which is God. St. Augustine has a rather daring phrase: "Love and do what you will." But he adds immediately, "but love." He is convinced that if we truly love God, we will not want to do anything that could oŽ end him. That's why the Christian life should not be lived on the defensive, concentrating on avoiding sin. Instead it should be lived in a very active way, seeking to love God more every day. To live each day, as St. Teresa of Avila said, "seeking to please my Captain in everything." The saints are those men and women who love God with their whole soul. And I am sure that you know one of these people personally. And I am also convinced that you want to be one of these people. If you ever go to Los Angeles, visit the cathedral. Along the inside walls are beautiful tapestries presenting the Communion of Saints. One hun- dred thirty-fi ve saints from all over the world are depicted there, includ- ing the canonized saints of North America. There are also 12 fi gures who are not identifi ed, including chil- dren of various ages. They represent the anonymous saints who live among us — these ones that you meet every day. Who says this yet unidentifi ed saint can't be you? In fact, this is what you most desire in the depths of your heart! Signs of faith in Russia 100 years after the Revolution H istory has presented us with a string of remarkable anni- versaries this fall: 100 years from Fatima, 500 hundred from the Reformation, and now 100 from the Russian revolution. Bolshevik Commu- nists rose to power in the October Revolution on Nov. 7, 1917 (though October 25th in the Julian calendar). The rev- olution occurred less than one month after the fi nal apparition at Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917. The Second Secret given to vision- aries in July of 1917 speaks of Russia at length: "I shall come to ask for the¦Conse- cration of Russia¦to my Immaculate Heart, and the¦Communion¦of¦rep- aration¦on the¦fi rst Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suŽ er; var- ious nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will con- secrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world." Sr. Lucia confi rmed that John Paul II fi nally fulfi lled Mary's request with his consecration of the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984. By 1989, Poland had its fi rst free elections, and in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. Mary's Immaculate Heart has triumphed over Communism in eastern Europe. She predicted, how- ever, that Russia would be converted. What do we see happening now, 16 years after the fall of Communism? To explore this question, I turned to John Burgess' recent book, Holy Rus': The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia (Yale, 2017). Burgess speaks of his experience, as an American, Prot- estant theologian, encountering the tradition of Russian Orthodoxy on the ground. He relates the big picture of the life and near death of the Ortho- dox Church in the last 100 years and also the variety of experiences he has had listening to Russians' account of their religious views. Though Russians by no means have fl ocked back to church following the demise of the Soviet Union, there has been remarkable growth, especially in moving from seven to 33,000 par- ishes. The Russian Church has sought to instill a renewed cultural identity, embarked on new educational proj- ects, and has tried to overcome the spiritual damage of the Communist era by commemorating the countless martyrs it produced. Many in Russia now attribute to these martyrs the graces needed for "national repen- tance, the fall of Communism, and social renewal" (124). The Church has faced the daunting task of catechizing large numbers of people quickly, while tending to serious social issues, such as drug addiction. Burgess speaks at length of the overarching goal to re-Christianize Russia, which he describes as "the in-churching of all society, indeed the whole of creation" (10). Burgess seems at once fascinating and deeply skeptical of this project of incultura- tion, which draws upon art, literature, pilgrimages and public infl uence. This last point leads him to elaborate some of the serious challenges that remain for the Orthodox Church. To survive, the Church had collaborated with the Communist regime and it remains cozy with Putin's totalitar- ian government. Its leaders have not spoken out against atrocities commit- ted in Ukraine and elsewhere, and has applauded the government's eŽ orts to make life diŸ cult for minority reli- gious groups, including Catholics. Overall, the book points to diŸ cul- ties and opportunities in bringing faith back to a secularized and indiŽ erent culture, similar to those faced by Cath- olics in the West. Although Commu- nism has fallen in eastern Europe and there are signs of a rebirth of faith in Russia, the spiritual fi ght against Com- munism continues throughout the world. The Church faces severe per- secution in Communist China, North Korea threatens atomic war, and the regime in Venezuela has ripped its society apart. We could also link many of the challenges that we now face in our society — secularism, the demise of marriage, and the questioning of gender — to the errors spread by same the materialist ideology that under- girds Communism. In response, we should continue listening to the mes- sage of Our Lady of Fatima to pray and do penance for conversion and pea ce. The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the catechetical formation specialist for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT

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