1 Tim 3:1-13 / Jn 19:25-27
As we were growing up, most of us were told repeatedly by our parents and teachers that we should aspire to become holy, like the saints. We didn’t know exactly what "holy" meant, but as the years passed, we saw all sorts of statues and pictures of saints at home, in our church, and in our Catholic school. We noted that in addition to halos, these saints tended to have their hands folded and their eyes cast heavenward. And the more we thought about it, some of us at least secretly decided that, if that’s what it means to be holy, we didn’t want to go there.
After reading today’s Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy, I think it’s clear that Paul would agree. In outlining the essential qualities for holy leaders of the Church, he says that bishops and deacons should be men of faith, kindness, and seriousness of purpose. But he goes on to underscore that, among other very practical things, they should manage their children and their households well. He’s affirming what Jesus said again and again, namely, that holy people are those who don’t sit on their hands or stare out into space but give their very best every day to build and hold together their part of God’s kingdom, here and now. They’ll never do that without the energy that comes through prayer, but prayer is only half the equation.
The Benedictines’ ancient motto, Orare et Laborare , to pray and to work, is an apt model for anyone seeking to live a holy life and to grow whole, for holiness is wholeness and it comes about only through that balance of the inner and the outer.
