Growing to be holy

As Catholic schools we should not be ashamed of our mission to encourage and grow to holiness. The call to holiness (and wholeness) is made to all Christians. But what is holiness, and why is it so important? Holiness is derived from God as an expression of his extraordinary and immense goodness. As believers we participate in this holiness through our experience of God’s presence in our lives. We do not automatically share in that holiness: each of us must respond to the call, grow in awareness of God’s presence, express it through gratitude, humility, love and justice for others. This doesn’t make us holy, it means we gain a share, a space, a place in God’s holiness.

Holiness is important because it permits and resources our capacity to live full and rich lives (wholeness – they’re intimately related).

So, what does holiness look like? We have certainly seen it in the lives of Mother Teresa of Calcultta, John Paul II and surely in the life of the Dalai Lama. But they are very religious. I’m reasonably sure, however, that religious people do not have a stranglehold on holiness. For gratitude, humility, love and justice for others are experienced and expressed by so many about us. I have been privileged in my life in having met a raft of ‘holy’ people – bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters, but most have been people like you. Yet when I see the devotion of wives for their husbands, fathers for their children, grandparents for their grandchildren, friends for one another, I see quite clearly how God’s holiness overflows into their lives and it is quite awe inspiring.

Coming to recognise God’s role in this generous giving is what our job is. In Paul’s letter to Timothy (6:11-16) we are asked to be ‘filled with faith and love, (be) patient and gentle’ – that is, we must seek to be holy.

What this means on a day-to-day basis will be entirely dependent upon your gifts and capacity. In some instances it may mean offering your every living moment to others through a life of contemplative prayer, or being a nurse, a teacher, a emergency services worker, office worker, stay at home mum or dad.

We must ‘fight the good fight with all our might’ so that the daily grind itself does not become our reason for living, the fight is to ensure we can see our wholeness being unfolded in word and action. Wherever we are in our lives that is where our holiness, our place and space with God lies.