desires something, the only thing that stands in his way is us. He does not force it, because he wants friends and not slaves. (cf. Jn 15:15) Therefore, he gives us all the tools we need, but he wants us to choose to use them. Just as parents have to let their children learn to walk on their own, Christ desires us to attain the maturity so that we won’t be spiritual infants but spiritual sons and daughters of the Father, living with strength but always in relationship with Christ. (cf. Eph 4:11-16) There is something powerful in realizing that if we strive for spiritual greatness — holiness — God will not leave us wanting. In 1999, St. John Paul II told young people gathered for the European Youth Meeting, “Do not be afraid to be holy! Have the courage and humility to present yourselves to the world determined to be holy, since full, true freedom is born from holiness.” That message should resonate with people of all ages, all over the world.
EVERYDAY, REAL-LIFE HOLINESS Holiness is intimately bound up with our daily lives. One cannot be “theoretically holy” because God does not work in the realm of theory. By becoming man and taking on our flesh, God works through the real world. This means he empowers us to be holy in our day-to-day lives. The communion of saints is a witness to the way you and I can become holy in each walk of life. God wants you to be a holy engineer, a holy soccer coach, a holy HR representative, a holy stayat-home mom, a holy artist, a holy student, a holy priest. The sacramental world of the Church shows us that God works through material things. The material sign of baptism (water) is a reminder that God takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. He communicates his eternal truth through material means. He has invited you to be holy today, right where you are, with the duties of your state in life. This
invitation does not have to wait until a better version of you comes along or until you have everything in your life figured out. It is an invitation to accept the universal call to holiness from your baptism and do the ordinary things of this world with extraordinary love. In the midst of the chaos of that crowded church some eight years ago, God was doing something beautiful. He was creating heirs to his kingdom amid the noise and the distraction. God was inviting those moms and dads — and me! — to choose holiness in that moment. He was inviting us to attend to the duties of our stations (parents, caring for their children, changing diapers, assenting to the promises they were asked to make for their infants; me, praying for them, saying the words of the church, making sure the temperature of the baptism water had been turned up ahead of time). There can be no bystanders in the life of discipleship and the call to holiness.