In today’s reading, St. Paul urges the Ephesians “to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” And of course this urging is addressed to us today as well: the Second Vatican Council emphasizes the universal call to holiness, a call which is not reserved to a select few, but extended to the entire community of the baptized. By virtue of our baptism, we have each received a call to this holiness, to live our lives for the glory of God, in pursuit of His heavenly Kingdom. If we believe this is true, then as St. Paul says, we need to act like it!
Yet even when we acknowledge our baptismal calling, we often fail to follow through on it. We admit that we were made for more, and even encourage others towards that “more,” but we ourselves cannot be bothered to change. The result is what Pope Francis, in his 2014 Christmas address to the Roman Curia, calls “existential schizophrenia.” This is the spiritual sickness of “those who live a double life,” who proclaim one thing to others and live their own life untransformed by the Gospel. This sickness is not restricted to the laity: Pope Francis accuses the Church leadership in particular here. And Pope Francis, as St. Paul, is begging us to overcome this disease, to live out daily the calling we have each received from the Lord. Today, let us pray for the grace to overcome that “existential schizophrenia,” to embrace the call to holiness that we so often preach.