The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Our greatest saints, and even God Himself, draw our attention to a virtue to base our lives on which sets a stage for all others: Holiness.
"Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am Holy."
It doesn't get much more straightforward than that. "But how are we to be holy?" you might ask. Fortunately, our readings today lay out a progression of holiness from "You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, kindness and mercy, and much more explicit and straightforward instructions of how to be holy in the Gospel.
One question that seems natural, particularly for us who have been in the faith for a long time and have heard this charge many times, is this: Why aren't we holy already? If it's so clear we are meant for holiness that even God Himself has charged us with this task, why do we see almost the exact opposite when looking at the world and, indeed, even in our own church?
Let us take a look at the Gospel for some insight. Slowly re-read the section where Jesus talks about loving your enemy. He begins by saying "...But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." It's a line we've heard many times and is easy to ignore or discard. Until you start to define who your enemy is. Who is it that you've given yourself permission to hate? Trump? Biden? Some other popular, selfish politician? Someone who has wronged or violated you? Yourself?
Now re-read Jesus' command and you can see the weight of what it means to be truly holy. It comes with a cost, and it is not "reasonable." But neither is the glory of God, and it is to that end we strive to be holy.
Andrew Montpetit is a Motion Graphic Designer / Animator in West Michigan. He greatly enjoys good films and deep, substantive conversations about beauty and its pursuit. You can find his work on his website.
