SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITY, MARTYRS (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. 

Doesn’t this command—to be holy as God is holy—sound impossible, and therefore a little frightening? We know that God is holy; we repeat it three times at every Mass when we pray, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.” And somehow we are supposed to be holy as he is? It does give us pause.

So pause. Then remember that the job of being the all-holy God has already been taken. That is not his call for you. Rather, to become holy is to acknowledge God as the source of life—both of your life and of his life in you. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, God is “the fullness of Being and of every perfection”; from him we receive all that we are and all that we have (213). God, the source of all life and all holiness, is already living in you through his Holy Spirit. You received this life in Baptism, and it was strengthened in you in Confirmation.

Once you recognize that your holiness can come only from God’s life in you, you can begin to “be holy” by doing the things that nourish that life. You can spend time in his presence by praying and receiving the sacraments. You can study the Gospels so that you can learn from Jesus what holiness in a human being looks like. You can determine to follow God’s commandments as best you know how, examining your conscience often and repenting when you realize you’ve fallen short. You can care for the people who are most in need. As you do these things, God’s life in you will grow and spill out to the people you encounter each day.

God has made you unique so that you can manifest his holiness as no one else can. So trust him when he tells you to be holy. Trust that as you cooperate with him, he will show you, day by day, how to grow in his love. Trust him to give you all that you need—wisdom, vision, strength, and energy. As you go through your day, keep opening your heart to the One who is the source of all life and holiness. And don’t be afraid—holiness is not impossible!

“Father, thank you for inviting me to be holy. Show me how I can respond to that call today.”

Psalm 19:8-10, 15
Matthew 25:31-46
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18