I, the Lord, your God, am holy

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.’” LV 19:1-2

I love seeing our little chapel full for daily Mass during Lent.  It can barely contain the congregation. This morning, as I often do, I watched my brothers and sisters standing, waiting on line to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord.  Most of us are 50+ year olds, but many are not.  I watched them working their way through the tightly packed chairs and narrow aisle, their heads, whether gray or not, bowed.  I wondered, are they lifting up their silent prayers or petitions to the Lord?  Are they thinking they might be late for work?  Are they distracted or focused?

I lift up my own silent prayer:  Lord, here we are, your flawed, weak people.  We’re not at all perfect, but we are all yours.  Have mercy on us.

We want so much for our children, don’t we?  We want them to be truly loved.  We want them to be successful, happy, healthy, productive people.  Maybe some of us want what the Lord wants:  that they be holy.  Maybe we want that for ourselves as well.  Maybe we should.  It is what the Lord wants.

It can be done.  He said so.  When our hearts desire His will, it can be done.  Why does He want it so much for us?  I have my own ideas. 

The other day I heard someone quote a priest who, while wearing his collar, was asked the following question by a stranger.  “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?”  The condescension of the question startled me a bit, but as I remember, this holy priest replied gently, something like this:  “Oh.  I want so much more than that!  I don’t just want a ‘relationship’ with Jesus Christ.  I want unity with Him.  I want to live and move and have my being within Him.  I want Him to take up residence within me and to be able to say along with St. Paul, ‘It is no longer I who live but Christ, who lives within me.”

Good answer! Sounds like holiness to me.

amg 3/10/2014