God has called each one of us to a life of holiness. There are no exceptions.

This means that holiness is not restricted to priests and nuns and elderly people, but includes everyone. A holy person is not one who cannot sin. A holy person is one who will not sin.

Holiness is:

• committing our life to Jesus Christ,
• making a determined effort to follow His commandments,
• trusting God when troubles seem to overwhelm us,
• praising God when our life is filled with pain,
  
  
• sharing with those in need when our own cupboard is nearly empty,
• listening to those who are hurting when we are hurting,
• loving when it is difficult to love,
• forgiving when it is hard to forgive.

• develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
• think and act in a way that reflects our love for God.
• make Jesus Christ the most important person in our life.

We can’t hold on to a particular sin and expect to grow in holiness. The purpose of life is to become holy and blameless in God’s sight (Eph 1:4).

Christ gives a special strength to those who struggle to follow Him. Everything that happens to you, including your physical and emotional sufferings, is an opportunity to grow in holiness.

The more we grow in holiness, the more we hate sin. Since God is infinitely holy, He has an infinite hatred of sin — even our small ones. Every time we sin, even if it is telling “a little lie,” we are doing something God hates.

We often excuse ourselves by saying, “It is not something serious... besides, who did I hurt?” The answer is... God.

When we sin, God does not give up on us, as the parable of the Prodigal Son proves. But God expects us to strive — with the help of the Holy Spirit — to be holy, as God is holy.

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