As we grow ever closer to the Great and Holy Week, during which we look ever closer to the final days of the life of Jesus, I believe that the call to holiness becomes ever more clear. First, I think that the call to holiness is a call to face the challenges of life with nobility and courage which are supported by a deep trust in God. We hear again how Jesus faced betrayal, false accusation, torture and death with quiet nobility. He did not allow the hatred of others and the falseness of their assertions to catapult him into protestations of innocence or urge him to use violence to counter violence. He did not get defensive! He knew that how he lived and what he taught was God’s truth. His true courage declared the truth of what he taught. If we know that we stand with God, there is no need to defend ourselves.

Second, I believe the call to holiness is a call to truly believe that love is more powerful than hate and to live according to this belief.

The call to holiness means that we freely choose to respond to others with love and kindness, regardless of how they treat us. Jesus refused, because of His love for His Father, to allow the actions of others to dictate how He lived. He lived as He believed and knew His Father wanted Him to live.

And finally, I believe that the call to holiness is a call to understand that personal transformation IS the purpose of earthly life. Jesus proved this, I truly believe, by the way He lived and died. The way He lived and died is the key to His resurrection. This is why He is our Messiah – the Person who can truly help us to make sense out of this earthly existence.

We all have choices about how to live our lives. I, myself, cannot possibly find any better model to try to imitate than Jesus. His way of living allowed Him to achieve personal resurrection and peace.