It is my hope that my readers are wrestling with the ideas I am trying to present in this article. I truly believe that it is essential that we wrestle with and think about the call given to us by God through the Person of Jesus Christ, His saints and, finally, His Church. The call to holiness is the call to personal wholeness, that is to being the person God intended when He infused our parents with the power to create us.

As you know, it is our belief that God calls each of us personally into existence even though our existence depends on an act of our parents. Out of the millions of possible combinations of genes and chromosomes and other elements that comprise us as human beings, the resultant combination is, our faith tell us, the will of God. We are not accidents of nature but, rather, the unique persons that God intends to call into existence out of love.

I know that many scoff at this idea that God intends, in particular, each, individual person that is born. I truly believe that Salvation History bears witness to God’s true intentions with humankind. Jesus, Mary and all the other persons involved in Salvation History were called into existence because of God’s loving will. This idea is further proven true by our very idea of God Himself. Nothing can come into existence unless He has an eternal idea of it. We have been called into existence from all eternity in the mind of God. He knows each person by name and, as the Scripture says, He even knows the number of hairs on our heads (of course that is before some of us go bald). Remember, while all things are not possible with men, they are with God.

I do believe that when we begin to envision ourselves in this manner, that as unique creations of a loving God, we begin to have a better feeling about ourselves. Then, when we project this same vision on all other humans, we begin to realize how absolutely critical it is that we treat others with deep respect. It is this idea of humans being the unique creations of God that allows Paul to say: Do you not realize that you are the Temples of God’s own Spirit.

I find that often the first thing that a person must do if he wishes to respond to God’s call to holiness is develop a spiritual idea of who s/he is and then to love that person. We know that we cannot love others if we don’t love ourselves. Our love of self must be realistic and not aggrandized. I find that often people depreciate their value and worth or truly overestimate it. Our value comes from the fact that God has made us the temples of His own Spirit. Our value and worth comes from God and not ourselves!