Is your pursuit of holiness actually bringing you closer to God, or unknowingly pushing Him away?
On this episode of "The Catholic Gentleman," John Heinen, Sam Guzman, and Devin Schadt go to the heart of what true holiness means.
Many of us, at some point, have been caught in the trap of viewing holiness as a series of tasks—a checklist of spiritual achievements.
"Growing in holiness for me was a set of tasks, a set of lists of I have to do this, do that, do this, do that," John shares.
Debunking the harmful misconception, Sam says "Holiness is not being right,” noticing how we often see Catholics online "trashing each other... all in this misguided and very damaging attempt to be right and equating that with being holy."
He shares the importance of approaching holiness through a lens of love and relationship, rather than fearing that any misstep might earn God's wrath.
"It's not about living in this constant dread and anxiety deep in my soul, just this fear that God was just ready to toss me into hell at any moment."
Devin also realizes this common view was a distortion of what our relationship with God truly should be, because “in the evening of life, we will all be judged by love, by charity.”
Understanding that "holiness is not anything that can be judged by the standards of the world" requires shifting our mindset from obligation to a genuine, loving relationship with the Divine because God’s “perfect love casts out fear,” John and Sam agree.
Devin explains that God’s love is unconditional, but it demands we love in return, because “if we ignore the reciprocality in our relationship with the Divine, we're going to get hurt, damage ourselves, and ultimately drive a wedge between us and God.”
Rather than “playing saint” to foster that loving relationship with God, authenticity and learning to “embrace your unique nature” is the key to one’s spiritual journey. This episode has so much great wisdom for today’s Catholics!