Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 8, 2010

Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield. – Psalm 33:20

One of the great enduring beauties of the Church is found in its saints. In every age, holy men and women, from every part of the world, from every walk of life and every level of education have managed to find a holiness of life that has allowed them to follow Christ, and once their earthly lives have come to an end, obtain heaven. Since heaven is the goal of us all, then holiness of life needs to be our common goal as well, however; since there is no one formula to sainthood, it would seem that holiness would end up being an individual and unique process as well.

While holiness of life is one of the commonalities found in saints, so is a desire to be united with Christ in all things. A life of holiness is a life focused on the love of God founded in a desire to grow in relationship with the source and inspiration all holiness, which is God. Once we find that in God is the source of all love, and through God we are the recipients of an infinite supply of love, then the desire to grow in that relationship has the potential to be more satisfying, more holy and more deeply personal than we could ever imagine, with limitless possibilities. This and more is what has inspired saints in every century. The infinite love of God, given to us in limitless proportions. It’s like having our thirst quenched when we didn’t even know we had been thirsty and being more satisfied than we ever thought possible.

One of the great misconceptions about a Godly relationship, is that if we have to work at it, then we’re doing it wrong. We are all sinners and we are all called to holiness and sainthood. What that means, is that God isn’t just calling those who are already holy, He is calling those who need holiness and salvation the most. In other words, God is calling us, you and me, to holiness, and holiness, like anything worthwhile, requires effort.

I remember seeing a bumper sticker many years ago which read, "How much sin can I commit and still get to heaven?" Even though the sticker was intended to be a joke, there was still a certain seriousness in it, that kind of begs the question, was that person more interested in holiness or in sinfulness? If they were interested in holiness, then they probably wouldn’t have had that sticker on their car in the first place. If that person was more interested in sinfulness, then God, who cannot be deceived and knows our hearts, will ultimately call that person to judgement when all the tasks of life are finished. But, the thing about holiness, like sinfulness, is that to be effective, it needs to be habitual. In other words, just like success in anything in life, it needs to be lived as a way of life. Sin tends to be easy, holiness takes a bit more effort.

To help us along the way, it would be worthwhile to ask ourselves, if five years ago, we were more honest than we are now. Were we more truthful then, were we more caring, or compassionate. Were we more prayerful. Were we more faithful. In thinking of the answers, then it is probably also important to ask ourselves, what kind of person we will be in another five years, ten years or even twenty years. Where will the sinful or holy habits of our lives takes us, what will we choose to do to form the future answers to those questions. In reality, a lot is riding on how we answer those questions and in how we live our lives.

Since we do not know the day or the hour when we will be called to stand before God and give an accounting of our lives, then the gospel we have heard tells us to be ready and alert at all times. This is not just to avoid eternal punishment for a sinful life, which is truly important, but also to help form our lives through a habitual life of holiness. When we are called to stand before God at the end of our lives, we will either stand there clothed in holiness formed through a life of habitual holiness, whereupon God will welcome us into His holy heaven, or covered in the shame of sin, whereupon we will depart from His presence either to be purged from whatever unconfessed sins remain, or to eternal damnation.

The focus needs to be not what we can get away with and still get to heaven, but how can we improve the holiness of life, for our eternal benefit and for the praise and glory of God, by always being vigilant and alert and keeping the holiness of God always in our focus. Saints are people like all of us. They walked the earth like we do, they lived everyday lives like we do, but somewhere along the way, decided in their vigilance, to seek a life of holiness so as to turn from sin, not just because they didn’t know the hour in which they would be called to meet the Lord, but because a life of holiness is a life dedicated to the love of God and it is in this love that they found the meaning and purpose of their lives.

There may not be a formula to sainthood, since every path to holiness is different for each person, but an easy way to remember to focus on holiness is to think of this simple equation; Voluntas plus voluntas, equals sanctity. In other words, Voluntas, with a capital V, meaning the will of God, plus the voluntas with a small "v" meaning our will, when added to each other, equals, sanctity or, holiness of life. The will of God, combined with our will, equals holiness, and that’s what we need to remember.