Holiness is not easy and it isn't always pretty.
We are all called to be Holy people, a Holy community, a Holy family, but what does that mean?
Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. One of the readings that you might hear this weekend (there are many), is St. Paul's letter to the Colossians. He says:
“Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”
The line that really stuck out to me is “bearing with one another.” It seems out of place with all of the other qualities and actions mentioned in the passage. This weekend we are celebrating the Holy Family, but this line talks about simply bearing with one another. This doesn’t sound like the quality of a holy family or holy community. But I think this line helps us to uncover the reality of what it means to be holy.
We can easily read the word “holy” to mean “perfect” but this creates a very different and unhelpful image of holiness and of the Holy Family that can be difficult for us to emulate.
If you look up “holy” in the dictionary, you’ll find many different definitions, such as “consecrated,” “dedicated to God,” and “pious; devout”, but you won’t find “perfect.”
Thinking of the Holy family as perfect makes it difficult to connect with them, but it also glosses over the realities that they had to go through. A great image of the Holy Family is the nativity scene, but think about what that was really like. Mary gave birth in a stable surrounded by animals. Jesus’ first bed was a feed trough. The family fled as refugees to Egypt to escape the danger to Jesus’ life when King Herod decided to have all of the young males in the region killed. There is a lot of difficulty and heartbreak in the story of the Holy family and it is important to remember that.
Holiness is not easy and it isn’t always pretty.
Holiness is having God at the center of our lives. Holiness reminds us what drives us and how we respond when we fall or face difficulty. Holiness is not about being perfect or the absence of problems. Our families are not perfect. Our community is not perfect. We have to be willing to admit that, because then we can decide how we move forward. Sometimes we might just be bearing with one another, but that’s okay because of the reasons that we are willing to bear with one another. We bear with our family members out of love for them. We bear with our community members out of a sense of a common bond and mission. We bear with students because we see the great things that they are capable of, even when they don’t.
Some members of our community have been through rough times. Our families and our school community have been through some rough times. The story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus reminds us that lives of holiness include rough times. These moments do not define us; what we do with them does.
So, let us rise to the challenge of holiness. Let us acknowledge the good that we do, but not shy away from the difficulties and challenges that we face. Let us be a Holy Family.
The result is nothing less than bringing Christ into our world.
“Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”
The line that really stuck out to me is “bearing with one another.” It seems out of place with all of the other qualities and actions mentioned in the passage. This weekend we are celebrating the Holy Family, but this line talks about simply bearing with one another. This doesn’t sound like the quality of a holy family or holy community. But I think this line helps us to uncover the reality of what it means to be holy.
We can easily read the word “holy” to mean “perfect” but this creates a very different and unhelpful image of holiness and of the Holy Family that can be difficult for us to emulate.
If you look up “holy” in the dictionary, you’ll find many different definitions, such as “consecrated,” “dedicated to God,” and “pious; devout”, but you won’t find “perfect.”
Thinking of the Holy family as perfect makes it difficult to connect with them, but it also glosses over the realities that they had to go through. A great image of the Holy Family is the nativity scene, but think about what that was really like. Mary gave birth in a stable surrounded by animals. Jesus’ first bed was a feed trough. The family fled as refugees to Egypt to escape the danger to Jesus’ life when King Herod decided to have all of the young males in the region killed. There is a lot of difficulty and heartbreak in the story of the Holy family and it is important to remember that.
Holiness is not easy and it isn’t always pretty.
Holiness is having God at the center of our lives. Holiness reminds us what drives us and how we respond when we fall or face difficulty. Holiness is not about being perfect or the absence of problems. Our families are not perfect. Our community is not perfect. We have to be willing to admit that, because then we can decide how we move forward. Sometimes we might just be bearing with one another, but that’s okay because of the reasons that we are willing to bear with one another. We bear with our family members out of love for them. We bear with our community members out of a sense of a common bond and mission. We bear with students because we see the great things that they are capable of, even when they don’t.
Some members of our community have been through rough times. Our families and our school community have been through some rough times. The story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus reminds us that lives of holiness include rough times. These moments do not define us; what we do with them does.
So, let us rise to the challenge of holiness. Let us acknowledge the good that we do, but not shy away from the difficulties and challenges that we face. Let us be a Holy Family.
The result is nothing less than bringing Christ into our world.
First Day of School 2017
Faculty Prayer for the Student Body
Author: Tucker Redding, SJ, Theology Department, Advancement Department
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