To Become Holy

 

   “I don’t pray because I am holy, but because I want to be holy and I need Jesus to teach me.” (Sr. Briege McKenna, O.S.C.) 

   Holiness is not something I can achieve on my own.  I am only a man, and like all humans, a sinful one.  What I must to do to become holy is get on my knees and pray for God to make me holy.

   However, I can pray for holiness all day every day, but if I don’t submit my will to Him I will not become holy.  I am always amazed that God waits for me to give Him permission to do with me what He will.  That is the key to holiness, submitting my will to His in all things.  Just as our Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, I too must say, “not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26: 39).

   The archangel Gabriel told our Blessed Mother “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (Luke 1: 35).  If I am to become holy, the same must happen to me.  But that can only happen if I, like Mary, become a servant of the Lord, allowing Him to do with me whatever He wills.

   I can’t enter God’s heavenly kingdom unless I am holy.  I cannot become holy unless I allow God to make me so.  That is why I pray; not because I am holy but because I want to become holy.