Food for the Journey: Eat, Pray, Love: Recipe for Holiness
by John Huynh | August 4, 2023
As my wife, Amy, and I strive to raise our three kids to be good and responsible individuals, we often find ourselves contemplating the call to raising them to be holy people. I have found the stories from the New Testament helpful in the distinction between being good and being holy.
The account of the widow's offering in St. Mark's Gospel illustrates the importance of self-sacrificial love. While the wealthy contributed significantly, the widow's humble offering impressed Jesus the most, showing that holiness means giving out of love, not from mere obligation.
Similarly, the encounter with the rich young man in St. Matthew's Gospel highlights the limitation of mere goodness. Though he followed the commandments, he lacked the selflessness required for holiness, exemplifying that goodness alone falls short.
Thus, it’s worth noting that holiness transcends mere obligations and fear of punishment. As Christians, we are called to love abundantly, giving not only our possessions but also praying for others' well-being. The Eucharist embodies this transformational love, inviting us into communion with Christ's self-giving sacrifice and allowing Christ to reshape us to love more abundantly.
The Eucharist is both a ritual and a profound encounter with God's love. Christ's act of self-sacrifice exemplifies holiness, going beyond good deeds to unite us with divine love, which forgives our greatest sins, making us new as snow, and saving us from death. Receiving the Eucharist opens us to Christ's grace, empowering us to love as he loves.
To love as Christ loves means we become holy and make our holiness extend beyond the church walls. It demands that we love our neighbors, forgive those who wrong us, and serve others selflessly. It calls for continuous self-examination and a journey towards becoming self-forgetting.
To be holy is to do the right things out of love for God and others, not merely duty. We should strive to teach our children and call those around us toward holiness by encouraging acts of love, compassion, and forgiveness
In all, holiness differs from mere goodness in recipe by requiring two additional ingredients: love and selflessness. Our reception of the Eucharist demands that we seek holiness in every aspect of life. And by allowing the Eucharist to nourish our souls, we become instruments of God's love and reflect his holiness in the world.
After our reception of the Eucharist at Mass, most of us take a few moments to pray and thank God for this undeserved gift. This month, I suggest that in addition to that prayer of thanksgiving, we should also consider praying and reflecting on this question: How can I draw from the Eucharistic grace to be holy in my interactions with others and my devotion to God?