How to be holy: Spend 5 with Jesus: February 27, 2023

Moses is told by God to speak to the people of Israel, and to tell them what they need to become: Be holy, for God is holy. But how? What does it mean to be holy? Sometimes when the question gets posed the all-too-quick answer can be reduced to the preferences of a single person. But what does God tell Moses in the next verses?

Readings for Today

How to be holy

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

Essentially there is a list of ways of acting that help to provide the ways to make the internal conversions. It all comes down to making the last sentence true: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But it is also important to remember the source of holiness. We are called to be holy because we seek a relationship with God, who is the source. It is really important to remember that our ability to do all of these things, to become holy, is possible only to the degree we receive the grace of God. We cannot do this on our own.

This becomes clear when we look at the great saints who have gone before us. None of them became a saint without prayer. None of them saw the ministry they engaged in as more important than their relationship with God. If we are to heed the call God had for Moses to give to the people, we need to dedicate ourselves to prayer that changes our hearts so much we can love our neighbor as ourselves.

We need to recognize that the season of Lent is really about recognizing that true holiness can only come from God. It never comes from ourselves, our hard work, or any other place but God. And seeking holiness is the primary purpose of the season of Lent.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.