“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”  Thus God instructed Moses to command the people of Israel.  The holiness of the people became necessary because God had drawn near to them and was dwelling in their midst.  If God was to dwell with his people then they must provide a suitable place of dwelling, a place that was holy and undefiled, a place that would honor and respect the holiness of God.  God did not single out certain individuals to be holy and represent the people in holiness, rather, he called all of the people of Israel to live a holy life.

     Holiness is a gift from God.  It is the gift of himself to his people.  It is God’s grace that cleanses us and prepares us to live in communion with God.  This grace is sanctifying grace and it is given to all of God’s children in baptism.  Holiness is a mystical gift that unites us with the mystery of the divine life and allows the mystery of Christ to unfold itself in our lives.  It is the mystery of a love that pierces our hearts and creates a longing in us for a deep and intimate union with God in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit.  It orders our interior life to abandon our selfish interests and to make our sole interest the glorification of God in us.  Jesus the Christ is the bridegroom and as members of the Church we are the bride that is arrayed in beauty, in the splendor and light of holiness.  Like a bride who prepares herself every day in beauty through cleansing, physical adornment and dress for her husband, so should we prepare ourselves everyday in holiness for our encounter with Christ.  Today we see a beautiful image of this truth in the holy city Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God in radiance and beauty, prepared by God’s grace for union with Christ the bridegroom.  We cooperate and facilitate the work of God’s grace within us through our ascetical practices of discipline, prayer and spiritual and charitable works.

     This grace and life of holiness is for all of God’s children, not just for a few who are called to religious life.  Pope John Paul II reminded us of this truth in his homily on the beatification of Father Damien of Molokai, “Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria; it is not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons.  It is for everyone; it is the Lord who brings us to holiness, when we are willing to collaborate in the salvation of the world for the glory of God, despite our sin and our sometimes rebellious temperament.”  All of us, each day, should prepare ourselves for our encounter with the Lord who dwells with us and is united with us in an eternal bond of love.  If we love the Lord then we should always strive to present our best selves to the Lord.  We should not be spiritual slobs and become careless with our spiritual practices or our prayer.

     In the gospel Jesus reveals to his disciples this promise, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”  To live in holiness of life is a gift of love that we offer to the Father.  When we give ourselves to God in this way of life then God will give himself to us through his indwelling presence.  God will make his dwelling with us through his Holy Spirit of love.  He will dwell in our hearts and establish within our interior being a deep sense of peace.  The peace that Jesus gives us is not like the world’s peace which depends upon external circumstances.  Peace in the world is the absence of conflict that comes from external circumstances.  Seldom in the world have we known this peace.  Peace in Jesus is an interior peace that comes from an absence of internal conflict.  We can know this peace and carry this peace with us always, no matter what the external circumstances of the world might be.  Thus, we can know peace even in the midst of suffering, persecution, difficulties and tribulations.  No one can take this peace away from us.

     Despite our imperfections we can all adorn ourselves in holiness for God.  We can all be arrayed in beauty, splendor and glory in our love for God.  We need only keep the word of Jesus of which the Holy Spirit, our counselor, will teach us and remind us.  God will do the work in us through his sanctifying grace; all we need do is cooperate with the work of the Spirit in our lives.