Do you really believe that you are part of the holy people of God?
Soon we will be celebrating the Feast of All Saints. I will not be reflecting on this day as another will reflect on the coming Feast. The coming feast, however, has caused me to reflect on the question of whether I believe that I am part of the holy people of God. That is the question I share with you for your meditation.
My thoughts have led me to believe that I am part of the holy people of God. God has created us out of love and made us holy before we even were born. The mystic, Julian of Norwich, says this, “I learned that love was our Lord’s meaning and that I say for certain both here and elsewhere that before God made us, God loved us.”
I do not think that we are told enough of our holiness. Often religious institutions like to point out our sinfulness. Certainly we are to turn away from sin and live a life of holiness in following Jesus Christ, but if we constantly hear about our sinfulness, how can we believe that we are holy? If we begin by acknowledging that we are holy people we can grow in our love and gratitude. We are holy because if we are Christian, we become holy because of our Baptism. We become one with Christ as we emerge from the waters of Baptism. We are a new creation. The anointing with holy chrism, the candle signifying Christ and the baptism gown we receive tell us of our holiness.
At a particular parish where we gather with other believers, the presider greets us in a particular way. He says, “Good Morning, holy people of God.” For me this identifies who I am. God loves us and believes in us as we go about our daily lives with a sense of gratefulness and love. We love this God who loves us always and only asks that we live out our holiness by our dedication to Jesus Christ. We are not sinful, we are holy and though not without sin, we still can be certain that God loves us unconditionally. We are indeed God’s holy people.
– Helen Ackermann
Thank you 🙏🏽
Helen, what beautiful reflection and one we need to hear often in these times! Thank you!
Loved your reflection.
Yes we are God’s holy people and yes we continue to grow in love and gratitude.
How blessed we are to be loved by such a loving God who invites us to bring that love to each other and to live in gratitude for the many gifts of each day. Thank you.
This is a valuable reflection. Werner Wolf, a former director of St. Anthony’s, used to greet me with: “Hello, Holy Man of God.” I would turn around to see if he was talking to someone else. He probably addressed others in the same way. But, as baptized members of the Body of Christ, we ought to see ourselves as holy, though always in need of improvement! Often at Mass, we are asked to “call to mind our sins.” I prefer to say something like “Let us ask God for the help we need.” The ones who really ought to look at their sins are probably not in church, given our crazy and violent world. But the ones who are present are probably experiencing what St. Paul said about the Holy Spirit praying within us when we don’t know how to pray. There is something of God present in us, though we are always in need of improvement, transformation, conversion.
Thank you so much for these beautiful true thoughts. We need to hear this so often! God made all things good, including us!