A Higher Call

By: Rick Hernandez

What does it mean to be holy? What would this look like? We do not live in theories but in the reality of life, and it is in the reality of this life where we must grow in holiness. We do not live in theoretical love, but in the practical action of love, which is charity. And we do not live in theoretical faith, but in the practical action of faith, which is trust. It is not about feelings, but about actions. What good is the “theoretical” without the practical?
 
The virtuous feelings we receive from our faith, hope, and love, are meant to prompt us to virtuous action. We read in the Letter of James that without action, our faith is dead.

“For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26)

Saint Peter Julian Eymard, the Apostle of the Eucharist, was a man of action. His life was a Eucharistic life fully alive, and one we are called to emulate.
 
The Eucharistic life presupposes our relationship to the Eucharist. We attend the Holy Mass, and we live it as the privilege it is for us. The Holy Mass is the source and summit of our faith. However, there are areas and moments in our lives that take place in between the source and the summit, and it is there where we must choose to live the Eucharist. How do we do this? How do we relate God's Eucharistic life to everyone we interact with?
 
We live the Eucharist when we live the love we receive from Christ, which prompts us to practice charity, mercy, and compassion. When we are Eucharistic, our hearts are stretched, and we can receive and practice patience and courage. We receive and share joy and peace, living gratefully. This is especially true when we make of our lives a living gift. This is how God gathers his people, by utilizing us and our gifts to do His work of love and mercy, here and now. The Eucharistic life is dynamic, not static. If we do not recognize this, there is some work on our part to be done.
 
We tend to concentrate on being good, and it is true, we all need to be good and do good. Yet to be good is not the same as being holy. Holy presupposes good but goes beyond it, for it is a higher call. Holy is what we are called to be.

‘…for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.”’ (1 Peter 1:16)

Let us think about this for a minute.
 
Every day, there are hundreds of things we have to say yes to, just as many as there are things we have to say no to. And what marks a day on the road to holiness as either good or challenging is how many of those yeses we say and how many of those noes we say.  To live Eucharistically means to say the right yeses and the right noes.
 
The more we grow consistent in our persistence in Christ, the more we can consistently say the right yeses and noes. Guided by the Holy Spirit, this gets us ever closer to holiness. Yes, we need to be consistently “good,” but in thanksgiving to God, and for His sake. He is with us and in us, here and now, asking us to take care of each other, and to love one another as He loves us. This is one of the yeses we have to say, a persistent yes to love, compassion, and mercy. In the same way, we must consistently say no to hate, apathy, and anger. Yet for some of us, this is hard to do. Perseverance is hard when we see there is still so long for us to go. We need not despair, for the long road is not traveled all at once, and hope will help us advance.

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other." (Walter Elliott)
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Let us concentrate on the present moment. Right now, we can consciously make a choice to do good, to be holy, to make of this precious moment an offering to God. Our lives in action are what we must use to grow in holiness, to grow ever closer to our Lord and to those who need us.
 
I have heard on so many occasions that it would be so much easier to be holy if we were alone. I am not sure of that, for I find, that it is in the mindful sacrifice and offering of my time to others that I persist in following God’s will in my life as a faithful servant.  If we were totally segregated from the world, separate from one another, I think we would cut the vein of love that flows God's message to our brethren who do not know Him, do not love Him, and do not adore Him.​

"Were we to know the merit of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbor for the love of God, we should prize it more than Gold or Silver… One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, he will amply reward you." (Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice)

Through us, God’s Grace can flow. Without our right disposition, the flow can be reduced and choked. Let us pray that today is the day that we perfectly persist in Christ, and follow Him, saying yes to His call to us. May we firmly say no to the temptations that keep us from holiness. In our Lord we trust. Amen.

Rick Hernandez

Rick Hernandez is a commonsense Catholic, Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, and a Director for Elisheba House. He lives in Trinity, Florida, with his wife Ivonne and their children. He also writes for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament's Daily Eucharistic Reflections and for Catholicmom.com.