April 5, 2018

What is meant by the idea of the “Holy Life”?

“God has made everything beautiful in its time. God has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11

For me, this is one of the most poetic lines in scripture. I find it filled with grace and hope.

“God has made everything beautiful in its time. God has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Here resides the first meaning of “holiness”, at least for me. These words provide an understanding of how a mere mortal, a sinner, could ever possibly live a “holy life”.

We can live a holy life, imperfect though it may be, because God created us to be Beautiful. Not in the sense of physical appearance perhaps, but in the quality of our soul and spirit.

We can live with a sense of holiness, imperfect though it may be, for God has placed the flow of our mortal days in the flow of the Eternal River. We can live in a holy manner for we can sense the Divine Perfection that beckons onward and upward toward the Beautiful Life, the Life of Christ embodied in our own. Yes, it is God who placed within us the latent image of all qualities Divine.

At least for me, holiness and the holy life is not about rules and laws, but rather about allowing the Divine Image (the Imago Dei) to emerge more fully into our human existence. At least for me, holiness and the holy life is not about styles of worship or trendy Christian affectations, but rather seeking to live as Divine Grace humanly expressed.

I am a sinner. I am mortal. But I am also Beautiful with eternity flowing through my soul.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz