A Lenten Thought on Holiness

Being a part of the Body of Christ we have been blessed with a beautiful life in this world.Its been true that many times we have left many of these blessing un noticed.Every fasting and lent has molded us more closer to the image of Christ,minuting the Self feeling in our hearts and enabling Christ to grow more and more in our life . HOLINESS has always been the precious Gift that our Lord himself has shown to us through his life. Is it true that in the modern world of lavishness,money and power in our fruterations to show to the outer world what we are,we have forgotten " HOLINESS".This lent remember me of the call for a holy life whether its our teenage,family life,priesthood or whatever call our Lord has granted us.Its like giving a Glass to a small kid,Lord has given us this beautiful gift and it our call to maintain holy life through our words,deeds and actions.But many times our external Christianity has forgotten to keep hold on to these virtue in Life. The call to holiness is a universal call from Christ himself; the avoidance or rejection of such a call is to erect an earthly city made of the mud and dirt of the world, one which is unholy and unacceptable to God. "Brothers, I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2). In 1993, in his Encyclical Veritatis Splendor (The Splendour of Truth), John Paul II noted the necessity of being obedient to the truth in order to become holy: "Called to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ 'the true light that enlightens everyone' (Jn 1:9), people become 'light in the Lord' and 'children of light' (Eph 5:8), and are made holy by 'obedience to the truth'" (1 Pet 1:22; VS, introduction). Holiness calls for obedience; and, to be sure, holiness is a way of life; it is to gaze upon the Holy Spirit each moment, intently, uniting our will to the will of God Being a part of the Church we are called for Holy Life,Christ calls us to "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). We are called to perfection. We are obliged to holiness. In St. Thomas's own words: "All who worship God may be called 'religious', but they are specially called so who dedicate their whole lives to the Divine worship, and withdraw themselves from worldly concerns, just as those are not termed 'contemplatives' who merely contemplate, but those who devote their whole lives to contemplation". The saint adds: "And such men subject themselves to other men not for man's sake but for God's sake", Let this lent teach us,guide us to this holy life to be like Jesus,to be like Mary  to be like the Saints.