Reflection
We have been taught that being holy means being less human when in reality it means becoming more authentically and more fully human. We’ve been taught the spiritual life is some special aspect of life, some altered state of being, often sounding out of our reach rather than the life we wake to each day with the opportunity to make of our lives a work of art. To live spiritually simply means to live life as it is intended and worthy to be lived as a full, active, and conscious participation in life.Jesus was wholly human because each day he consciously refused to compromise his dignity or betray his humanity. We learn from Jesus that the spiritual life is the human life, the embodied life, the immediate life, the daily mundane and mystery-laden life lived well. For this reason, we can say to become human is to become holy and to become holy is to become human. The tools for creating such a life as a gift to the world and a sign of our Spirit-infused aliveness are deliberate enactments of humility, wonder, gratefulness, awe, generosity, hospitality, passion, deep sympathy, mercy, compassion, hope, love, and joy.
Dan Miller, The Sacred Braid
Prayer
What is humankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:4-5
Action
What is your concept of holiness? Is it real? Who do you consider a holy person?
Reflect on the passage above. Think of the aspects of your own life. How can you live it fully and realistically?
Suggested Reading
This is what God asks of you, only this
To act justly
To love tenderly
And to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16
We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.
Pope Francis
All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be.
Saint Francis de Sales
Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.
Mother Teresa
The glory of God is the human being fully alive.
St. Iraneus
I believe in holiness and sacredness in other people. It doesn’t mean that the clouds part and I see God. That’s a juvenile way of thinking about it.
Karen Armstrong
The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.
Albert Schweitzer
Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
One of the central motivations for holiness in the New Testament is to be who you are, to understand your identity and your union in Christ and to live that way.
Kevin DeYoung