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Every so often I talk to people about being saints. Often the response is: “Not me. I’m no saint. I’ll never be a saint.” My response is: “Well, you better get to work because in the end there will be only two options: if you’re not a saint, the alternative is pretty hot!”

We are all saints-in-the-making. To be a saint is our purpose and our ultimate goal in life. Jesus said, “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” He wouldn’t command us to do something impossible. He called us all to holiness because we are made for union with the All-Holy One—God.

Pope John Paul II made it clear that holiness is not optional in the life of a Christian. He wrote: “I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness (Novo Millennio Ineunte, n.30, emphasis in the original). He went on to say that “the universal call to holiness” was a major theme of the Second Vatican Council. “As the Council itself explained, this ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness. . . .The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction” (NMI n.31).

If holiness is not for the few but for everyone, how does one become holy? Pope John Paul wrote that “the paths to holiness are personal and call for a genuine ‘training in holiness,’ adapted to people’s needs. This training must integrate the resources offered to everyone with both the traditional forms of individual and group assistance, as well as the more recent forms of support offered in associations and movements recognized by the Church. This training in holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer” (NMI nn.31–32).

Training in holiness through the art of prayer is what Carolyn Humphreys offers in her book Everyday Holiness. With stories, wise sayings of the saints, poetry, lyrics, and her own reflections, Carolyn opens a treasure house for prayer, both traditional and new. Carolyn has done us a great service in bringing many resources together in an engaging and thorough way. She covers numerous aspects of holiness, including the theological virtues; everyday moments of work, prayer, and suffering; and the Eucharist, which, according to the Second Vatican Council, is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”

Everyday Holiness reminds us that growth in holiness by going deeper in our prayer life is not optional. According to Pope John Paul II, “it would be wrong to think that ordinary Christians can be content with a shallow prayer that is unable to fill their whole life. Especially in the face of the many trials to which today’s world subjects faith, they would be not only mediocre Christians but ‘Christians at risk’” (NMI n.34). Life with its many challenges to faith is difficult enough, but in the “spiritual desert” of contemporary life, as Pope Benedict described it, we are at risk if we do not go deeper. At risk of what? We risk nothing less than losing our way through this life and into the next.

The New Evangelization has emerged as the antidote to the spiritual diseases of our time. What is proposed is not a “new gospel” but the gospel which is ever-new because it is given flesh by each new generation. Ultimately the best witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the life of a holy Christian. True holiness is joyful. Holiness attracts others to the faith more effectively than anything else. But true holiness is only possible through prayer and the interior transformation that prayer brings about.

With Everyday Holiness Carolyn has made a practical contribution to the New Evangelization. Her book will make reflective readers discontent “with a shallow prayer that is unable to fill their whole life.” Everyday Holiness inspires a desire for holiness which is ultimately the wholeness of a good life, a life in which daily prayer and action lead to the happiness for which God created each of us.

Everyday Holiness is a book to be read slowly and savored. Filled with both inspiration and practical advice, it can help both beginners in prayer and seasoned contemplatives go deeper in their spiritual lives.

Father James Kubicki, SJ

National Director

Apostleship of Prayer 2003–2017

Currently Director of St Francis Mission,Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota