Holiness: the daily responsibility

All are called to holiness. “How do you feel about being called a living saint?” a news reporter asked Mother Teresa one day. Her answer was shocking and relevant today and everyday of our lives. She said, “You have to be holy in the position you are, and I have to be holy in the position God has given me. There is nothing extraordinary about being holy. It is simply a duty for you and for me”.
What is holiness? We say God is holy. When we say that, it is not just one quality of God, rather it is the sum totality of the qualities of God. Holiness summarizes all qualities of God. When the Church calls all Christians and others to holiness, once again, the Church did not ask the faithful to put on this particular quality called ‘holiness’, rather the Church asks the faithful to resemble God in their personal life in all aspects of their living.
The people in today’s gospel are invited by God to holiness. Working in the vineyard, which is the Kingdom, for the landowner, that is God, we are called by God to work of the holiness of the self and the world. Holiness is commitment to God on daily basis; it is like the people in the gospel go for daily wage. There are people who automatically think that they are good and righteous people, they follow all the rules and regulations, sacraments and teachings of the church, as usual go and work for the Kingdom of God very early. There are people who search for God in times of need and emergency are also called by God to holiness.
The interesting point here to note is that God makes three short trips, not for fun, not that God has nothing to do, rather, God makes his generosity known, God opens his heart in the morning, noon and evening: that is to say, God is open to us all the time. He is in search of us. God actually makes a conversation with the third set of people. He did not talk much with the so called ‘good people’, nor did he talk with the ‘ok people’, He talks with the ‘bad people’. He is after the lost sheep. He wants the least to know and experience his Heart, his Holiness.
In the first letter of Peter, we read, “As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘you shall be holy, for I am holy.” (I Pet 1:15-16). Christians ought to understand and accept that holiness is not an option but a requirement to enter the Kingdom of God. To become holy is to have one’s entire personality freed from sin and filled with love, faithfulness, and purity of God. (Ralph Martin). Let us strive for holiness, set our sights on holiness, to work for it and to go for it.