Call to Holiness: the Vision and Relevance of Gaudete et Exsultate

Introduction
Since Pope Francis assumed the papacy, he has drawn a great deal of attention of the world. His
holiness has in a way grown to become the conscience of the world. People irrespective of caste,
creed and culture look up to him as a figure who inspires them and as someone who in his word
and deeds reflects the mercy and love of Jesus.

In his pontificate, Pope Francis has also been constantly attempting to implement the Second
Vatican Council. This systematic implementation is not merely restricted to structural reforms, but
it includes also the Council’s understanding of the vocation that each Christian is called to by
virtue of baptism, viz. the call to holiness. It was one of the principle themes of the Council and it
indeed is at the heart of Pope Francis’ papacy.1 Holy Father’s apostolic exhortation Gaudete et
Exsultate – ‘Rejoice and be Glad’ – which is the latest of his trilogy of exhortations, must be
understood as the part of his efforts to renew the Church. In it, Pope proposes practical ways to
live the call to holiness in the modern world. For, “[h]oliness is the most attractive face of the
Church” (n. 9).

The purpose of this paper is simply to reflect upon the various threads of Gaudete et Exsultate,
and to present the overall vision of this brief papal document. However, before we discuss the
document it would be helpful to understand the theological vision of the Pope who offered it.

I. Pope Francis’ Theological Vision

i. Mercy as God’s Fundamental Attribute
In his interview given to Andrea Tornielli, Pope Francis said: “mercy is the first attribute of God.
Mercy is the name of God.”2 Declaring the jubilee year of mercy, Pope Francis released a bull of
indiction - Misericordiae Vultus – where he described mercy as God’s fundamental attribute. The
document focused on the theme that God is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4). In Exodus 34:6, God reveals
himself to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness.” Jesus revealed the nature of God as that of a merciful Father “who never gives
up until he has forgiven the wrong and overcome rejection with compassion and mercy” (MV 9).

The Pope affirms that mercy of God springs from his faithfulness: “[M]ercy is deeply connected
to God’s faithfulness… You can deny God, you can sin against him, but God cannot deny himself.
He remains faithful.”3 This conviction is at the heart of Pope Francis’ teaching on mercy.

1
Cf. E. D’Lima, “Pope Francis: Making of a New History of Church Leadership,” in Jnanadeepa, vol. 22,
n. 1, 2018, 98-111.
2
Pope Francis, The Name of God is Mercy, 81; Andrea Tornielli notes that mercy “is the Francis’ most
treasured theological concept.” https://newrepublic.com/article/127679/mercy-mean-pope-francis
(accessed 03.08.2018).
3
The Name of God is Mercy, 8.
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ii. Human Person as the Recipient of Divine Mercy
Pope Francis’ emphasis on God’s merciful nature leads him to contend that the human person is
basically the recipient of God’s mercy. His Holiness sees himself as a sinner who has made a lot
of mistakes in his life, but whom Jesus has looked upon with mercy. The experience of being loved
by the Lord and of receiving mercy fills his heart with joy and he wants to communicate his
foundational experience by his words and by his actions.
Therefore, we can notice certain salient traits in his teaching and pastoral approaches:

a. Emphasis on Christ’s Merciful Gaze

Oft-quoted reply of Pope Francis to Antonio Spadaro’s question – “I am a sinner on whom the
Lord has turned his gaze” – reveals the thought of His holiness. In five year long pontificate, if
there is a word that frequently appears in his writings, speeches, and addresses, it is ‘gaze.’ In the
encyclical Lumen Fidei, we find the following statement: “Faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but
sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing”
(n. 18). In Laudato si, Pope exhorted us to possess the gaze of Jesus and look at the creation with
“fondness and wonder” (n. 97). In his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the Holy
Father teaches us to have “the gaze of the Good Shepherd, who seeks not to judge but to love” (EG
125). By announcing a jubilee year of mercy, he invited us to fix our eyes on the “merciful gaze”
of Jesus and look at others with mercy. In Amoris Laetitia, he presents looking to Jesus as the
vocation of the family.

b. ‘No’ to Classifying People

Looking at others through the eyes of Jesus would mean for Pope Francis that he is hesitant in
judging others. ‘Who am I to judge?,’ he would quite often ask. He is convinced that he has
received mercy gratuitously from the Lord, and he deems it his duty to show mercy to others. He
would therefore shun the tendencies to categorize people into saints and sinners and to marginalize
some.

c. Discernment4 and Accompanying

This theological orientation means that the Church today needs to become effective sign of the
Father’s action in the contemporary world. He urges the Church to make Christ’s attitude his/her
own by accompanying the weak members with tenderness and patience so that the “balm of mercy”
may reach everyone. In Evangelii Gaudium, he expresses his vision of the Church: “The Church
must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and
encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (n. 114), and in Amoris Laetitia he reminds that

4
The spiritual quality most precious to Pope Francis from his Ignatian is discernment – “the process of
deep reflection and self-analysis through which a Jesuit tries to work out what it is God wants of him.” P.
Vallely, Pope Francis Untying the Knots. The Struggle for the Soul of Catholicism, Bloomsbury
Continuum, London, 2015, 204.
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“the Church’s task is often like a field hospital (n. 291). Therefore, in his teachings, we find the
words ‘discernment’ and ‘accompanying’ quite often.

iii. The Primacy of Grace

The primacy of grace is a constant theme in Pope Francis’ teachings. Recalling an incident of his
adolescence when he experienced that God sought him out and called him, the Pope said: “From
that moment onward for me God is the One who is ‘ahead’ of us… You are looking for him but
he is the one to find you first.”5 In his Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, he wrote:
It is important to know that the first word, the true initiative, the true activity comes from God and
only by inserting ourselves into the divine initiative, only begging for this divine initiative, shall
we too be able to become – with him and in him – evangelizers. This principle of the primacy of
grace must be a beacon which constantly illuminates our reflections on evangelization (EG 112).

Therefore, without any hesitation he would state that “even recognizing oneself as a sinner is a
grace.”6

In his emphasis on the primacy of grace, an Augustinian influence cannot be denied. And this
insistence points to a basic continuity between the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope
Francis, even though some changes in approach and style are there for all to see. But this is
unavoidable when one considers the different pastoral contexts of two Popes. Therefore, there is
no surprise that this brief exhortation on holiness appears to be a continuation and elaboration of
Benedict XVI’s teaching on holiness given in his General Audience on 13 April 2011. In fact, he
mentions this address in Gaudete et Exsultate (cf. n. 21).

All I have done thus far is to provide a lens through which we can read Pope Francis’ Gaudete et
Exsultate, which is our text for reflection in today’s colloquium. The theological approach of Pope
Francis which we explored above provides the point of departure for understanding this
Exhortation. We shall examine the five chapters of this papal document and try to understand the
vision that His Holiness wishes to communicate.

II. The Vision of Gaudete et Exsultate

The document recalls how God wants us to be holy (cf. Gen 17:1; Eph 1:4), because it is only in
holiness that do we find “true life, the happiness for which we were created.” The first of the five
chapters, deals with what is holiness, and what are the paths to holiness. The second chapter
explores the subtle enemies of holiness. The Pope presents the ways to holiness as taught by Jesus
himself in the third chapter. While the fourth chapter focuses on the five signs of holiness, the final
chapter stresses the need of understanding the path to holiness as a constant battle and emphasizes
the need of discernment.

5
P.O’ Callaghan, God Ahead of Us, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2014, 3.
6
The Name of God is Mercy, 30.
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1. The Universal Call to Holiness
The first chapter is a reminder that the call to holiness is not reserved to an elect-few or to the
consecrated people, as was generally held before the Second Vatican Council. The Council sought
to correct this adulterated notion by proposing the universal call to holiness (cf. LG 11; cf. GE 10).
However, still today many people tend to think that only canonized saints and martyrs are holy,
and that holiness is only for popes, bishops, priests, and religious. They think that holiness is
unattainable for the ordinary people. In this context, Pope Francis re-proposes the universal call to
holiness in the midst of our daily ordinary circumstances.

1.1 Holiness is for all, but each has a Distinct Path

All are called to holiness, but each of us is called to “discern his or her own path,” and to seek
holiness in her own distinct way (n. 14). Parents can become holy by raising their children with
love, married couples by loving and caring for their spouses, the consecrated people by living their
commitments with joy etc.

1.2 What is Holiness?

a. Holiness is the Life of Christ in us
The Holy Father invites us to see our own lives as missions where we grow in holiness by raising
our eyes to Christ crucified and by letting him transform us (cf. n. 15). The total transformation of
the Christian consists in becoming like Christ, and that is God’s intention for each person. God
who has called us to become holy, will bring our mission to fulfilment in spite of our mistakes and
weaknesses. Underscoring a certain distinction between sanctity and perfection, the Pope says that
the saints cannot be expected to be perfect all the time. “Not everything a saint says is completely
faithful to the Gospel; not everything he or she does is authentic or perfect” (n. 22). The totality of
their life and their growth in holiness must be taken into consideration. Holiness, for Pope Francis,
is “an encounter between [o]ur weakness and the power of God’s grace” (n. 34).

The Pope says that to be holy means allowing Christ to live his life in us. It is Christ who lives in
us, operates through us, and struggles in us. We are called to cooperate with God by remaining
open to his supernatural grace, which purifies and enlightens and transforms us.

b. Participation in the Mission of Christ

The Pope, however, reminds that our personal mission should not be understood apart from the
call to build up the “kingdom of love, justice and universal peace” (n. 25). Even though silence
before God, quiet, peace and prayer are necessary, they should not lead to fleeing from interaction,
activity, and service. Our engagement in the society and commitment in the world should not be
seen as “‘distractions’ along the path to growth in holiness” (n. 27). If holiness is identification
with Christ, it entails committing ourselves to the building up of the Kingdom. Pope urges us to
maintain a neat balance between our personal life of prayer and our evangelizing efforts.

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After explaining holiness in terms of Christ’s life in us, and that each Christian is called to let
Christ live his life in us and transform us, in the second chapter, Pope Francis turns to discuss what
are the contrasting pathways that prevent the working of grace in us.

2. False Paths to Holiness

Holy Father cautions against two false forms of holiness that can lead us astray: neo-Gnosticism
and neo-Pelagianism. They find frequent mention in His Holiness’ speeches and writings. He is
convinced that these tendencies somehow minimize the dependence on God or belittle the primacy
of grace in salvation. And they block the Church’s progress along the path to holiness (n. 62).
i. Contemporary Gnosticism
Generally speaking, the Gnostics who were very influential during the times of early Christianity
believed that salvation came from being liberated from matter through secret knowledge. And they
classified human beings into an elite group who would be saved on the basis of the knowledge
they alone possess, and the ordinary public who lacked this specialized knowledge and would
therefore be condemned. Disregard for matter led people gradually to underplay Christ’s humanity
and their own humanity. They forgot that holiness was to be found within the human condition,
that is, within the ordinary events of our daily lives, rather than trying to flee from these.

Pope Francis notes that the contemporary forms of Gnosticism can be traced within the Church
itself in the following attitudes:
a. Tendency to Classifying Others
According to Pope Francis, there are people who remain content with their ability to acquire
knowledge and to understand the complexity of certain doctrines. I have an answer for every
question attitude is a sign of neo-Gnosticism. Considering themselves as an elite group, they look
down upon others who do not possess knowledge. They insist that the Church practices its laws
and regulations with certain rigidity.7 Thinking that their vision of reality is perfect, they force
others to “submit to their way of thinking” (n. 39).

Offering a criticism to this tendency, His Holiness points to the bi-millenary history of Christian
reflection, and affirms that “a person’s perfection is measured not by the information or knowledge
they possess, but by the depth of their charity” (n. 37). The doctrines are undoubtedly important,
they help us to understand our faith in clear terms and to better live the Gospel in our daily lives.
But the Pope wants to remind us that we follow not a theory, but a person – Jesus Christ, at a
particular time in a particular place. The Pope fears that limiting the Christian life to a set of
theories might lead us away from the “concrete simplicity of the Gospel” and could lead such
people to “become incapable of touching Christ’s suffering flesh in others” (n. 37). Our

7
Cf. J. Parappally, “Hominization of the Word: A Challenge to Neo-Gnosticism and Neo-Pelagianism, in
Jeevadhara, vol. XLVIII, 2018, 49.
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understanding and interpretation of doctrine should not be viewed as “a closed system, devoid of
the dynamic capacity to pose questions, doubts, inquiries…” (n. 44). His Holiness appeals that the
Church needs to address the struggles and worries of today’s people and to find better responses
to the questions that they pose.

b. Domesticating the Mystery

Neo-Gnostic error consists in intelligence taking the place of mystery and grace. People tend to
domesticate the mystery of God and his grace, or the mystery of others’ lives and judge on the
basis of their knowledge and interpretation of the doctrines whether God is present in such and
such person’s life.

Attacking this tendency, the Pope asserts that God is “full of surprises” and that one cannot
determine when, how and where to encounter him (n. 41). He can be present where we least expect,
he can be mysteriously present even in the life of someone who is devastated by vices and
addictions, the Pope contends. This definitely points to Pope Francis’ approach as of a pastor who
has made Christ’s merciful gaze his own.

ii. Contemporary Pelagianism

While in Gnosticism the emphasis was on the knowledge and the salvation for the elect-few, in
Pelagianism human will and the reliance on personal efforts to become holy was stressed.
Pelagianism belittles the primacy of grace in salvation.

Pope Francis points to the danger of contemporary Pelagianism that is making its way in the
Catholic Church. It is reflected in the following attitudes:

a. Refusal of Dependence in God

In a Pelagian framework, people tend to reduce salvation and holiness to their own efforts,
powers and observance of certain rules. This makes them feel secured of their salvation and feel
superior to fellow Catholics (cf. 49). Rather than depending on God’s grace that transforms and
perfects us, they depend on themselves.

Pope Francis reminds, “that everything ‘depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who
shows mercy’ (Rom. 9:16) and that ‘he first loved us’ (cf 1 Jn 4:19)’” (n. 48). When we fail to
sincerely acknowledge our concrete and limited situation and do not will to rely upon God, we
refuse and “prevent grace from working more effectively within us.”

Are we then to remain totally passive? What is our role? The Pope would suggest that we need
to acknowledge our concrete and limited situation, to humble ourselves to depend upon God,
and to allow God to transform us progressively with grace (n. 50). Holiness is not a self-made
perfection. Realization that we can do nothing on our own is essential for our growth in holiness.
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b. Individualism
Pope Francis is convinced that the individualism and craving for autonomy lurk behind the
attitude of depending on one’s own capabilities and efforts. The neo-Pelagianism is practiced by
those Christians who demonstrate Pharisaic attitude of strict observance of laws without paying
attention to its spirit, punctilious concern for certain doctrines, rules, customs or ways of acting
and an excessive concern with programmes of self-help and personal fulfilment (n. 57).8 People
who are obsessed with these, tend to think that they can work out their justification.

In response, the Pope makes a reference to the Second Synod of Orange which taught firmly the
gratuitousness of grace: “Even the desire to be cleansed comes about in us through the
outpouring and working of the Holy Spirit” (n. 53). Justification is God’s work. Even our
cooperation with God’s grace itself is the result of grace.

In order not to fall into neo-Pelagian tendency of seeing Church as a museum piece and being
obsessed with certain rules and laws, Pope Francis asks us to remember the hierarchy of theological
virtues with charity at the centre (n. 60). Jesus invites us to see two faces, that of the Father and
that of our brother. We are called to see God the Father with trust, depending on him for the grace.
And we are called to look at the needy and the least with the merciful gaze of Jesus. In seeing those
who are suffering we actually see the face of God.

To counter the neo-Gnostic and neo-Pelagian errors, Pope Francis builds upon the above-
mentioned idea by inviting us to meditate on the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:20) and Matthew
25:31-46 in the next chapter.

3. Christ’s Teaching on Holiness

In the third chapter, Pope Francis draws our attention to what Christ himself taught on holiness,
and what is the criteria of judgment given by him.

The Beatitudes can be reread from the lens that Pope Francis provides: looking at God with the
gaze of dependence, trust, and obedience; and looking at others with the gaze of mercy. Some of
the important reflections of Pope Francis are as follows:
• The words, ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’ can be seen as a synonym for ‘holy,’ so much so that the first
part ‘Blessed are…” can be read as ‘Holy are…”
• Fixing our gaze on riches and worldly things makes us “so self-satisfied that we leave no room
for God’s word, for the love of our brothers and sisters…” Therefore, Pope Francis teaches to
train ourselves with what Ignatius of Loyola called “holy indifference” towards all created
things, and to set our hearts on God.
• Meekness is an expression of interior poverty that enables us to place our hope and trust in
God alone and not in ourselves.

8
Cf. Evangelii Gaudium 94.
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 • Those who learn to see things through the eyes of Jesus, can understand others’ pain and
sorrow and sympathize with them. They will surely find authentic happiness.
• The Pope illustrates two aspects of mercy: i. giving, helping and serving others; and ii.
forgiveness and understanding.
• Pope Francis exhorts the faithful to shed all masks and falsehoods and become authentic
persons with simple, pure and undefiled heart, a heart that loves God and neighbor
genuinely and not merely verbally. They can see God.
• Christians are not called to end up into “an obscure mediocrity.” They have a mission at
hand, i.e., to live the Gospel. Persecution for the sake of the Gospel is inevitable. In today’s
world, the follower of Christ may have to bear persecution in different forms such as by
slander, lies and false allegations, but persevering in the path of Gospel is holiness.

After mapping out the Beatitudes, the Supreme Pontiff notes that the text of Matthew 25:31-46 is
in fact expansion on the Beatitude that calls the merciful blessed. This text presents the ultimate
criterion on which our holiness will be judged, namely recognizing the Lord in the poor and the
suffering and extending the hands of mercy to them.

The Pope, however, cautions against two harmful ideological errors. First, some Christians tend to
get so immersed in their works to help others that they do not take seriously their personal
relationship with the Lord. He reminds that Christianity is not “a sort of NGO.” The great saints
such as St. Teresa of Calcutta found a certain harmony between their prayer life and “their
passionate and effective commitment to their neighbours” (n. 100).

Secondly, some Christians view all the social engagement of others with suspicion and label it as
superficial, materialist, populist etc. While they rightly raise their voice for the respect of life of
the unborn, they lose sight of equally sacred lives of the already born children, the destitute, the
underprivileged, the migrants etc. They act as if some issues are secondary compared to the ‘grave’
bioethical questions that they themselves defend.

The Pope reiterates that our worship, prayer, or observance of certain ethical norms become
pleasing to God when we commit ourselves to the works of mercy towards our neighbours because
“the ultimate criterion on which our lives will be judged is what we have done for others” (n. 104).
Thus far, we have seen that holiness consists in love for God and neighbor. In the next chapter, the
Holy Father presents the “five great expressions of love for God and neighbor” or the five signs of
holiness in today’s world.

4. Signs of Holiness in Today’s World

In the wake of certain dangers prevalent in today’s culture such as, self-centeredness and
consumerist individualism that lead the Christians away from God, Pope Francis exhorts us to live
the five aspects of holiness.
i. A Solid Grounding in God: The Pope urges us not to look “for security in success, vain
pleasures, possessions, power over others or social status,” but to preserve our inner trust in God
and overcome evil by persevering in goodness, which is the way to overcome evil (Rom 12:21).

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ii. Joy and a sense of humour: The supernatural joy is born of trust in God’s love and mercy
towards us and it endures even in times of affliction.9
iii. Boldness (Parrhesia10): Holy Father exhorts us to overcome the temptation to flee to a safe
haven of remaining enclosed in our little world and in the comfort zones, the rejection of new
ideas, hiding behind rules and regulations etc. and reaching out to the fringes where people are
wounded, and are troubled. He writes, “more than bureaucrats and functionaries, the Church needs
passionate missionaries, enthusiastic about sharing true life” (n. 138).
iv. Community. In today’s world where we see “the growing consumerist individualism that tends
to isolate us,” the Pope teaches that “growth in holiness is a journey in community, side by side
with others.” The Pope is critical of the tendency to see holiness as a private affair between ‘God’
and ‘me.’ He offers a correction by affirming that we are called to become holy not as individuals
but in communion with others, for, “no one is saved alone as an isolated individual” (GE, n. 6).
v. Habitual openness to God: Gazing on the face of Christ is an opportunity to allow ourselves
to be healed and transformed by God. It is also a moment to catch fire from the Lord in order to
be able to set the hearts of others on fire by our words and witness.

Journey towards holiness is a constant battle. The Pope turns to focus on this theme in the final
chapter.
5. Spiritual Combat, Vigilance and Discernment
Pope Francis reminds that the spiritual combat is not merely against the world, and our inclinations
to the worldly things, but against the devil, who, according to the Pope, should not be dismissed
as a myth. The realization that our journey towards holiness is a constant struggle will help us to
be attentive and to guard against evil.

Feeling complacent or lethargic could lead one to “spiritual corruption” which, in Pope Francis’
view, “is worse than the fall of a sinner” (n. 165).11 The corrupt person no longer feels the need
for forgiveness and mercy, he does not know humility.

The Pope advocates the need of discernment which seeks to understand the “mysterious plan that
God has for each of us,” and it involves recognizing how to cooperate with God’s grace in
accomplishing the mission that we received at our baptism.
Finally, the Pope invites our attention to Mary who lived Jesus’ Beatitudes like none other. She
teaches us the ways of holiness, and she walks ever at our side.
Conclusion
In a world marred by individualism, consumerism and hedonism, Pope Francis has been constantly
striving to make the Church relevant to the present day challenges. In his third apostolic

9
“There is no holiness in sadness.” Pope Francis, Meeting with Seminarians and Novices, Rome, 6 July
2013.
10
Paul VI in his encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi laments a lack of joy and courage (parrhesia) as an obstacle
to evangelization, and he commends the joy of evangelizing linked to an inner enthusiasm and courage. By
presenting joy and courage as the signs of holiness, Pope Francis seems to echo the thought of Paul VI.
11
In his 1991 book, The Way of Humility: Corruption and Sin, he had drawn distinction between corruption
and sin. He noted that sin, if repeated can lead to corruption, it becomes a mental habit.
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exhortation – Gaudete et Exsultate, the Pope is reproposing the call to holiness to each one of us.
The attitudes of refusing to depend on God’s grace (neo-Pelagianism) and neglecting others (neo-
Gnosticism) are subtle enemies of holiness. Holiness is attainable for any person provided he
acknowledges that he is in need of mercy and is open to receive God’s grace. Holiness consists in
letting Christ live in us and transform us from within. Becoming united with the Lord entails
looking at others through his merciful gaze, touching the wounded with his caressing hands, and
reaching out in the outermost fringes of society. Holiness, in the final estimation, is loving God
and neighbor. That, this message is conveyed by the Supreme Pastor of the Church, who has
always been the prophet of mercy in his words and deeds, challenges us to embody mercy and love
of the Lord and become his joyful witnesses.
Fr. Jolly Karimpil

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