Holy

Holy, holy, holy Lord. Why three times holy? In Hebrew when something is said twice, it is done so to signify importance and to encourage people to take note of it. God is more than just important and superlative. It is His most emphasised attribute - He isn’t just twice holy, He is holy, holy holy. 

The word holy means set apart for a special purpose by and for God. In this, Catholics understand the holiness of the universal Church to derive from Christ's holiness. Everything that comes from God is holy and if we are of God, we too are holy. The saints give us wonderful examples of lives lived in holiness. But what about us, who aren’t saints yet and who probably will never officially be canonised? How can we get closer to God and be more holy? 

The call to holiness is deeply personal and a long road made up of prayer, sacrifice and service to others. Pope Francis says, "To walk toward holiness, you must be free.” - being free to follow God in all things, at all times and in all places. 

Holidays are coming up and while there will, hopefully, be time to relax and rejuvenate, there will also be times to test our holiness in the relationships we have with others. When we’re with our families and friends we are at our most authentic and real. Relationships reveal things about ourselves that we didn’t know were true. 

Relationships don’t make us selfish, impatient, or ungenerous, they instead reveal to us areas where we need to grow. 

Bring these needs to God. Ask God where would you like me to grow this week? What’s one thing that I can do to grow more holy? Can I put the phone down? Can I choose to be generous and avoid being reactive? Small gestures will bring us closer to living holy lives as we bear witness to God’s love in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.