Universal Call to Holiness
I am sure that if you have been following this article in the Bulletin you have come to see that the “call to holiness” is, in reality, a true call to authentic living, that is living in the way that God intended humans to live when He created humanity. He had a vision of how humans should live in order to achieve the goal that He established for humanity, namely deeper union with Him. It is His desire, if I can attribute to Him a human feeling, that His children might freely return His love and come to realize the joy of relationship with Him. In order to freely return His love, however, we have to learn how to love. The only way we can learn how to truly love is by developing the ability to unconditionally love other humans. It is simple. If I can’t unconditionally love other humans whom I can see and interact with, how can I love God.
The fact of the matter is that anytime I harbor hate for other humans, I diminish MY ABILITY TO LOVE. The true ability to love does not depend upon the response of the person to whom I am directing my love. To be able to love does not require the return of love. It only requires me to do all in my power to love.
The problem is that we humans tend to make our love of others “conditional.” I will love you only if you return my love. This approach does not allow us to develop the ability to truly love. If I love you only because you return my love, what does that say about my ability to love?
One of the impediments to learning how to truly love others is the approach to life that we assume. If I give moral value (i.e., good or bad) to the challenges of life, I diminish my ability to freely learn how to love. The various challenges of life that all humans must face are but the opportunities that life give to us to place our hope and trust in God. When we see life as a series of opportunities to become a person who is open to growth and change, can we truly learn how to love.
Why do I say this? Because looking at the challenges of life in this manner frees me to not judge but just accept the events of life and to be master of my own life.