Your holiness

Matthew 23:13-22

             As always, there is pleasant and often quite interesting conversation over the post Mass coffee hour. Today we briefly touched on the differences between Cistercians, Capuchins, Franciscans and what Saint Francis himself may have intended at different times in his life. One point is that Saint Francis, at least at one time, would even argue against ownership of a personal copy of the Bible. Brother Mark noted that if you own a book, then you might want a shelf  or then a light or then something else. Perhaps owning things is a slippery slope. I do know that things can own you. I usually associate that with much more material things, i-pods, phones, TVs, cars, houses, clothing, jewelry, etc.

I deference to my fathers wisdom (earthly and heavenly), I believe we are better off if we realize we are merely caretakers of everything we are graced with.  We are better off if we think we own nothing and that includes spouses, children and anything else we seem to feel we own or would fight for.

             This begs to ask the question of what makes us holy?  Do even the holiest of objects, texts or robes make us holy? Are my grandmothers set of Rosary beads exempt from the feeling of ownership? Do they make me holy? Does my ordination make me holy? There are a great number of Pedophile Priests and ordained ministers that helped cover it up that would lead me to believe that ordination does not in fact automatically make you holy.  What makes us holy?

               I think an argument could be made that  living an authentic life makes you holy. Knowing in your heart your uniqueness and goodness  as  created by God may make you holy on the face of it. Does loving and generosity make you holy?

             I am going to suggest that there is no material possession that makes you holy. You are Holy as created, as in the book Original Blessing by Matthew Fox. You can attain Holiness by loving and placing everything in proper perspective.  Hint: God is always numero uno.

‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.