What if I said that you, right now, are being called by God to become a Saint? Saint Paul, writing about God’s plan for the human person, says this in his letter to the Ephesians, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (1:4). He told his disciple Timothy that God saved us, and called us to a holy calling. Paul, in both places, is referring to all believers! Every one of us, by virtue of our baptisms, by virtue of our being faithful members of the body of Christ, are called to holiness! One of the biggest misperceptions among Christians is that holiness is a luxury reserved for the elect few.
What does holiness mean? Why does Christ call us Christians to be holy?
Holiness is simply the fullness of the expression of human life as God meant it to be. This is because it is the fullness of expression of the way Christ himself lived. In other words, holiness simply means full conformity to the pattern of Christ’s life, full union of our intellect and will to his, full submission to everything that he wills for us. Jesus Christ is the law of life for all men.
How do we achieve this holiness? By constant meditation on Christ’s life, by constant prayer that we may be close to him, by constant desire to fulfill all that he asks of us, by continual reading of his word, and by active participation in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church. Through all this, the Christian person becomes more conformed into the person of Christ himself.
The Christian life must be a life of holiness. In the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord says it plainly, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” St. Peter reiterated this fact when he wrote, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
To begin the life of holiness, God begins within us first, before we even think about being perfect, or even just being good. God is there with His grace. Therefore, in the letter to the Hebrews, the sacred author exhorts us to boldness: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Grace deepens that confidence. Grace unites us to his throne. Grace connects us to this mercy. Grace enables us to move forward gradually to the perfection of holiness, to sainthood.
Again — How do we respond to this call to holiness in concrete terms? The answer is both simple and manifold: as Our Lady said in the Gospel, “Do whatever he tells you.” In other words, live out in full fidelity all that is required of us by holy mother Church in love: the commandments of the Lord, the precepts of the Church, and the Christian spiritual life.
Ours is a task of living out the grace that we have first received from our loving Father in Heaven. And our Father in Heaven cannot be outdone in generosity. He continues to pour forth his grace into us, to guide us towards him every step of the way. And insofar as we humble ourselves like children to receive all that he gives us, he continues to bestow upon us so much more.
The simplest way to begin to live out this call is to frequent the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation. God is an understanding, unconditionally loving, forgiving, and generous Father! He knows the reality of sin and our weakness! Because of this, He establishes restoration in grace within the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our Father is always waiting to pick us up any and every time we fall! Pope Benedict XVI said, “Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again and, especially, for reconciliation and forgiveness!”
In the light of all this, I exhort you: let not a single week go by where we do not encounter Christ, the love of our life, the Risen Lord, the king of kings, in the celebration of the Holy Liturgy of the Mass. This serves at the very least as a foundational benchmark for what should build up into a full life of holiness. But ultimately, our life should revolve around consistent daily encounter with Christ who is the source and summit of our entire being.
This holiness is the measure of the Christian Life. It is holiness that allows us to stand before the God who is himself all-holy and to be judged favorably by him – that is, to be saved. Why? Holiness proves that we are God’s children. As His children, we are His “spitting image”
We need holiness to be saved. The great doctor of moral theology, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, speaks in a sobering manner about salvation. He says, “for there is no error like it [neglecting eternal salvation] in its consequences, for all errors but this, have their remedies. If a person lose[s] his property, he may be able to recover it in some other way; if he lose[s] a place, he may be able to regain it; even if he should lose this life and yet be saved, there is a remedy in all these cases. But for him who is lost, there is no further help.”
The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unmistakable in this: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” To this end then, brothers and sisters, that we might “see the Lord” — by the grace of God Almighty, let us be holy as God himself is holy.