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Responding to the call of Holiness
Blogged by Ella Preece on 17th March 2010
The readings from the Third Sunday of Lent B give us clear guidance on how to take up the call practically. In the Gospel Jesus clears the temple of the money lenders etc., just as we, as temples of Christ, should remove the hindrances and sins which cause us to fail on our path to holiness. The first reading, the Ten Commandments, is a back to basics, this was not just a list of rules but a covenant with God's people, not just the Hebrews but us as Christians. It is important to remember that this covenant requires participation from us. We should keep them as our focus and guide in life, along with the two greatest commandments which Jesus uses to sum up and complete the ten. With these commandments as our focus we can separate ourselves from worldly expectations and live our lives for God. Finally the second reading, preaching a crucified Christ. Christ is our model and guide without salvation through Him there would be no possibility to achieve holiness. We must therefore listen to Him we can do this by giving time to God each week, removing ourselves from our busy, worldly lives.
By going to Mass every week we hear God's guidance on our call to Holiness through the liturgy of the Word, we get the strength and refreshment of Christ Himself through the Holy Eucharist. By going to regular confession we make ourselves clean again, removing those sins we have built up, clearing the temple of God (hagiosyne). By offering our sins and giving them to God He sanctifies them (hosiotes), making them holy. We are also given the grace to not sin again and the help needed to over come the stumbling blocks of the past and bring us back to the path of holiness and perfection as members of the 'bride of Christ'
We also look to the hierarchy of the Church, take Peter he was the first Pope, the head and leader that all looked to and yet he considered himself just to be one of the twelve, a servant to the rest. We look to how our Bishops act and what they encourage, bearing in mind that it must be in union with the teachings of the Pope. We look to them for both leadership but also encouragement and spiritual growth.
