Homily: Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent 2016 - What is holiness?

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, The Triumph of the Name of Jesus

I remember a number of years ago, when I was still in seminary, I was attending a  friend’s birthday party one summer, sitting outside on a picnic bench with some people with whom I had gone to high school.  They were somewhat intrigued that I was studying to be a priest.  They professed that they didn’t believe in God and so thought the Church to be a pretty big waste of time.  So they asked me why I wanted to be a priest.  I said because God wants his people to be holy, and I want to help.  They looked at me strangely, like they didn’t know what I was talking about (and likely they didn’t).

Being in a somewhat philosophical mood, I asked them, “do you know what I mean by that word? what I mean by ‘holiness’.”  And they had no idea.  They thought the word gibberish.  The word, the concept, the idea of holiness had been banished from their speech.  I asked them what the word “reverence” meant, they responded, “what, is that like respecting trees?”

Our culture is in pretty bad shape; there are even baptized Catholic who have no idea that they are supposed to be seeking to live a holy life.  How did this happen?

Well, it’s not the first time in history.  Look at what Jeremiah said in the first reading today: "Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech." —Jeremiah 7:28

The people of Jeremiah's time were so disobedient and rebellious that they were not only unfaithful but also banished the whole idea of faithfulness and even the word "faithfulness."

Likely, one is able to measure how far a culture is from godliness by its understanding of the words like Faithfulness, holiness, piety, virtue, reverence. If you don’t think these words are important, then you don’t understand them, and you don’t understand the Christian faith.

So, if we know the problem—ignorance of God and his ways, and if we know the cause of the problem—disobedience, rebelliousness, unfaithfulness, then what is the remedy? What can we do to help people return to God? It is for you and for me to become as holy as we can. Doesn’t sound too hard, right?

20^th century Saint Josemaria Escriva said: “To be holy isn’t easy, but it isn’t difficult either.  To be holy is to be a good Christian, to resemble Christ.  The more closely a person resembles Christ, the more he belongs to Christ, the holier he is.” 

This Lent we are called to show the world what holiness is by drawing near to Christ, by stripping away all those behaviors and attitudes that are unbecoming of a Christian and dedicate ourselves to works of mercy and charity.  Everything that is keeping us from becoming as holy as we should, strip away. Let our life in Christ be a witness before men that they may see our good works, our holiness, that they may seek Him, the source of our holiness and joy, Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.