The Beatitudes of Holiness

From the Catholic Liturgy for the 4^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, January 29, 2017. Matthew 5:1-12 – The Beatitudes.  The Beatitudes, which open Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, are the signs and fruit of a holy Christian life. But what IS holiness? For many holiness conjures up images of impeccable human behavior, monks and nuns, missionaries and martyrs. Holy people, aka Saints, are often pictured as a kind of unreal display of Catholic super-heroes, something beyond the reach of ordinary men and women. But this notion is quite mistaken. Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to and for EVERYONE.  His audience at the Sermon on the Mount was not an assembly of monks and nuns, it was not a congregation of a “Saintly Justice League”. Holiness is for everyone!  Perhaps it helps if we keep in mind that holiness is a name we give to our relationship with God when this relationship is cherished and lived as primary in our lives.  Holiness is loving God with all our mind, heart, soul and strength and then expressing this love in our interactions with others, in our love for neighbor. Holiness means living this relationship every day, one day at a time. It is a relationship centered on the Eucharist, strengthened by Confession, maintained by daily prayer, inspired by meditation on the Gospel, and lived out concretely in our service to others. Blessed are we who seek it!