Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
God calls us to be holy, because He is holy. Holiness is not foreign to our humanity. It is our destiny, our mission and our vocation to be holy. Holiness is the only way our life and our heart can find completeness. It is the only way that our restless hearts can truly find satisfaction. Holiness is wholeness or completeness. If we are made in God’s image and likeness then it follows that we should reflect the holiness of the one whom we mirror. The Book of Leviticus goes on to list attributes of holiness. These attributes culminate into the greatest and the mother of them all: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”. Love your neighbor. Your neighbor is everyone. Your neighbor is everywhere. Love your neighbor as if you were loving yourself. Love as a tree would love the lumberman that carries an axe to cut it down by sheltering him from the sun. When we love and allow ourselves to be loved, we become intoxicatingly alive. The act of loving liberates us.
In this season of Lent, love deep, love hard, love freely knowing that the Love we follow is “the Love that ask for nothing and gives it all”.
May God give us the gift of holiness and the gift of Love. Love someone today and May God bless you all.
