Holiness: What is it?

In the first reading, 1 Thes 4: 1-8, St. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in the the name of Jesus to conduct themselves in ways that please the Lord. "For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from  immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do [those] who do mot know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter..."

You and I also know that God's will for us is our holiness, nothing less than that!  What does holiness look like? It may be a father playing basketball with his teenage son, a mother coloring with her seven-year old daughter, a husband helping his wife prepare the evening meal, a wife tending to her paralyzed husband, grandparents babysitting their grandchildren, an adult being a faithful, dependable employer; a family attending Sunday worship services,  persons making choices that improve their physical, mental and spiritual well-being (choices that lead to wholeness or holiness), and on and on!

What is holiness for you? What, obviously, would you not describe as holiness?

The Lord, Your God Wills Your Holiness/Wholeness

In  today's first reading, Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18, the Lord says to Moses and to us:   "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy." How, we ask, are we to be holy as the Lord, our God, is holy? Is that not impossible? For us, on our own, yes. For us, with God, no!  God can do all things and that includes putting us on the path to holiness when we stray!

I was getting caught in a pattern of thinking that is detrimental to grace.  As I recognized the pattern, I began to pray the mantra:  "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner."  As soon as my mind drifted back to negative thinking, I returned to the mantra.  I woke up refreshed, consulted a friend, who set me right and reminded me of what my mission is and how I allowed myself to get pulled into issues that are not my responsibility to resolve and over which I was obsessing. How free I felt and grateful for God's grace at work in me as soon as I turned to the Lord for help and realized how right my friend was in her counsel of me! And, yes, God had put me back on the path of holiness and wholeness!

What do you do when you recognize that you are on a dangerous path, one that will lead you away from what God wants of you?  What helps you experience the freedom and the peace that only God can give? What puts you back on the path to holiness, that is, to wholeness and becoming the person God intends you to become?

The Almighty, All-Knowing, All-loving, All-Good God

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb,"  we read in today's first reading, Rev 7: 2--4, 9-14.  Being saved, being made whole, being healed, being restored to the fullness of life is a gift from God, our Savior.  We see this process of being made whole, of striving for a restoration to wholeness, happening when we cut ourselves, for instance.  Our bodies naturally heal.  We see death and dying all around us this fall, as the leaves fall to the ground, disintegrate and become fertilizer for new life to burst forth in spring.  The never-ending cycle of birth and rebirth are daily examples of restoration to new life, to wholeness, to returning to fullness of life as God's gift to us.

It is not, I believe,  just when we enter eternal life and receive a new body that we know God's gift of salvation. We know it now here on earth in situations described above and in relationships that are restored when we co-operate with grace, seeking forgiveness after we have brought pain into another person's life.  Cyclically, beginning with the Trinity in the relationship of Father to Son to Holy Spirit and in the Trinity's relationship with each one of us and us with each other, the creative and healing powers of God flow, bringing us, every day,  to a new level of wholeness, to an ever-expanding level of fruition,  and to a sharing more and more in the fullness of life Jesus promises us in the Scriptures.

Truly, "[b]lessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might..." (Rev 7: 2-2, 9-14) belong to the Almighty,  the all-knowing, the all-loving, the all-good God, who put into existence these creative energies, beginning with the start of creation--humankind part of the ongoing process of creation--and extending to eternal life.

God's Instructions of Being Holy/Whole in His Sight

Today’s first reading, Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18, begins with the Lord asking us to “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” and then spells out ways in which we are not holy, namely, when we:

·         Steal, rob others of their rights, engage in fraudulent behaviors

·         Lie in any way, swear falsely, spread slanderous statements against anyone

·         Use God’s name disrespectfully

·         Curse the deaf and put stumbling blocks in front of the blind

·         Render unjust , dishonest judgments towards anyone

·         Show partiality toward the rich and famous as well as toward the weak and vulnerable

·         Do nothing when another’s life is in danger

·         Bear hatred in our hearts  towards anyone

·         Seek revenge and hold grudges

Lord, how unholy am I, how much in need of your mercy and forgiveness from you and others.

Dorothy Ann,   (your name), as “the height of heaven above earth, so strong is [God’s] faithful love for… [you] who [reverence the Lord].  As the distance of east from west, so far from [you] does [God] put [your] faults. As tenderly as a [loving, caring, forgiving] father treats his children, so Yahweh treats [you, his daughter/son]; [God] knows of what [you] are made, [God] remembers that [you] are dust."

Thank you, Lord, for your merciful, caring restorative justice, loving me into eternity, loving me into right relationships with you, others and myself.  Thank you for being merciful and understanding of my human nature, its downfalls and weaknesses, its sinfulness and efforts to do what is right before you, to “be holy as You are holy.”

God Wills Your Wholeness

St. Paul reminds us in today’s first reading, 1 Thes 4: 1-8, that God’s will for us is our “holiness.”  God wills our integrity, our transparency, our wholeness, our honesty, our purity, our simplicity; in short,  our sacred commitment to Truth, to Life, to  Christ--the way to the Father.  God wills that we again become childlike: innocent, awe-filled, loving and trusting, inclusive, transparent, faith-filled and hope-filled.  God desires that you and I refrain from immoral acts: acts of evil intent, malicious acts, hate-filled acts; that we refrain from deceitfulness and from all that is contrary to godliness, to loving and forgiving as God loves and forgives us.  God wills our good. 

What do you will for yourself and others?  Is your will worthy of being carried out in actuality, that is, are your actions and attitudes in sync with your innermost desires, those that come from your God-self, or are they aligned with the propensity to act contrary to God's will, to succumb to the weakness of sin that exist within each one of us?

Wholeness/healing in the Risen Christ

In today’s first Scripture reading,  Acts of the Apostles 3: 11-26,  Peter is upset that people seem to think that the crippled man was made whole by Peter and John’s efforts, not recognizing that God alone heals people and transforms their lives.  We are no more than an instrument in God’s hands, as is the pipe through which water flows into our homes.  It is so easy to take ownership of things of which we are not the authors.  Our ego wants that kind of recognition, power and control. Yet we know that God is the One doing the good we accomplish in our work, our relationships, our family and community lives and our personal lives as well. St. Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 2: 10 when he says: “We are…created in Christ Jesus for good work, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”  What is crucial is our cooperation with God to bring to fruition “the good work which God prepared beforehand.”    We can thwart or block the good work we are meant to do . How? Low self-esteem, negative beliefs, being stuck in past angers and hurts, shame, fear, blaming others for our lethargy, our lack of motivation or whatever is the impediment.   We may be excusing ourselves by saying things like:  “It’s too hard.” “It’s not my  fault.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I’m too young, too old, too sick, unworthy, too busy, don’t have time.” “My boss won’t let me or doesn’t like me or won’t like it.”  “Others don’t believe in me” (really means that I don’t believe in myself). “People will criticize me.” “I don’t want to upset anyone.” “Nobody will care anyway.” “I don’t want to make waves,” etc. etc. etc.!  What excuses to you think people use? Which do you use?

Somehow each of us needs to let go of excuses and believe in the power of the Risen Christ within us! In God’s mind, that which cripples our creativity, our initiative, our taking responsibility for our lives, the quality and productivity in our work lives, the tenor of our  family/community lives, our spiritual and psychological growth, our ongoing conversion is already healed. Is it healed in our mines?  “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door” to a better life will be opened to you, Jesus tells us in Mt 7:7. Do I believe that?  Today, in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter says to me and to you: “Get up and walk!”  Do something that brings the needed change in your life.