Holiness - not a call, an identity!

THE WORD IN LENT

Monday, First week in Lent: March 7, 2022

Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18; Matthew 25:31-46

We are beginning our first week in lent, the lenten journey is slowly intensifying and today, the Word establishes the very purpose of this lenten journey, not only that, but the purpose of our whole life as christians - holiness! The Word inspires us today with a subtle difference, but very crucial to understand. 

We know holiness is a call, a fundamental call that we have as children of God. Be ye holy the Lord says. But that is not all...there is a second part to that statement that we need to pay attention. In fact, that second part makes a crucial difference. Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy! That is all the difference we need to know and understand.

Holiness is not merely a call, it is our identity. If it were a call, we could respond to it the way we wanted: saying either yes or no. We could accept the call or deny it; we could accede to it or reject it. But it is not just a call, but an identity! We cannot but develop and grow in it. 

The Lord created us in God's own image and likeness; we bear the image of God, that is holiness, purity and the splendour of integrity. How sad, that we have to be reminded so often, brought back so frequently and dragged back to our original state so repeatedly! But the Lord does not tire of it. The Lord is never tired of us: never tires of forgiving us, never tires of showing mercy to us and never tires of calling us back to Godself!

All that we need to do is realise that our real nature is 'holiness' because the one who created us is holy, the Image in which we are created is holy and therefore we have to be holy! We have to free ourselves of all that goes against this holiness, all that takes us away from that holiness. Yes, let us remember, holiness is not just a call, it is our very identity!