By Father Rich Tomkosky
We are all called by God, by our Baptism into His life, to grow in holiness on a daily basis by living a life of integrity & character.
God calls us to integration in our lives which means to bring everything together in proper order. Zephaniah gives us the pattern for this: Seek the Lord, seek justice; seek humility, speak no lies.
We are called to be obedient to God and all the teachings of our Catholic faith; to be docile to the Holy Spirit and not be self-willed. If we do these things with God, then we will live in His peace and be a person of holy character.
This “down time” in the winter months, when for many of us there is less busyness and outside activity than at other times of the year when the weather is nicer, is a good time to work on this call to integrity to see areas in which we need to improve.
The secret of the saints was they sought the right things in life; they had proper priorities: seeking God’s Truth and His holy will in all things and being willing to sacrifice all else to arrive at union with the Lord.
The things that often distract us include our status, our possessions/money, self-will earthly pleasures, worrying what other people think of us. All things must be subjected to the light of God’s truth, or we will not arrive at holiness, but will fall short of the mark. We can’t buy our way into Heaven with money, prestige, social status, possessions. Most of us would admit that is true in our minds, but sadly in real life, we are often still focused on those things way too much! Remember God is not impressed by worldly glory. What matters to Him is seeing the image of Jesus in us; and that we live in communion with Him. As Saint John the Baptist put it so well, “He must increase and I must decrease.”
Saint Paul tells us the truth that “God chose the foolish of this world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of this world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” That really flies in the face of our modern mentality which we are taught from the time we are little toddlers, which is to “be yourself and do what you desire to do in life; don’t let anybody stand in your way.” Self-will and pride are seen as ultimate virtues. Jesus said the opposite: it’s only in losing our life for the sake of the Lord and His truth that we will ultimately find it. The path of self-will is ultimately the path to spiritual destruction. Are we praying daily to know and embrace God’s will?
Jesus’ way is not our natural way! To embrace His way to life, holiness and truth we have to change our way of thinking and acting. Hence, He gives us the Beatitudes as guideposts to show us how to be persons of Christian integrity on the path to union with God. The eight Beatitudes show us the dispositions of heart and mind that we need to embrace in order to become the holy people God calls us to be from our Baptism.
Detachment from possessions, sorrow over sin, growing in true humility and meekness; thirsting for holiness, being merciful, striving for purity of mind and body: in the gift of our sexuality and in being single heartedly focused on God; being a peacemaker, being willing to suffer for God’s truth out of love for Him are all part of living a life of spiritual integrity, i.e., of holiness. Remember, we must be willing to suffer with Jesus in order to reign with Him (see our Lady’s messages at Kibeho, Rwanda re: redemptive suffering, the Last Things, peace and conversion of hardened sinners by the 7 Sorrows Rosary).
To embrace the Beatitudes in daily life we will suffer in this world as Jesus did; but remember it leads to ultimate life and joy in Heaven, as well as the grace of divine union and peace in our life now, which is greater than any worldly pleasure or glory, as Jesus promises us.
Now is the time to change for the better through daily reflection, spiritual reading, more prayer, penance, and works of charity in relation to our fellow human beings, so Jesus can more fully live His life in us to the greater honor and glory of the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s ask the Trinity for this special grace: to daily become persons of greater integrity, character, and holiness, out of love for God and for the salvation of souls: our own and others. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
