Description

The crisis of the church in every age is a crisis of saints. There is no modern, accessible model of saintly lay masculinity in Western culture. A man can be holy, or he can be masculine, but he cannot be both. Studies (such as this one) can only point out a problem and perhaps make the Church aware of its needs. It can correct wrong concepts, because misguided preaching and spiritual advice only makes the problem worse. But studies alone, commissions and articles and programs, will not themselves create the masculine saints, who alone can show to men that holiness is not the negation, but the fulfillment of masculinity. That can only be done by saints who are both dedicated to holiness, not by their own work, but by the work of the Holy Spirit, and who are fully masculine. These saints will be ordinary Christians, who come into contact with other men in sports, business, or the military.

by Leon J. Podles