"The Fountain of all Holiness"

I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted.

The balance of the vacation was outstanding and now we're right back in the thick of things. Work, family, getting ready for retreat in a few weeks, getting our second child off to college, and the normal summer activities - friends, barbecues, swimming and baseball.

With my daily schedule I don't get to daily mass as often as I'd like. On some of those mornings I get to listen to Mass on The Catholic Channel on Sirius satellite radio (channel 159). They broadcast the daily 8:00 Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

Listening while driving can often be interrupted by, can you believe it, paying attention to the road, especially in the Pennsylvania Turnpike construction zones! Different parts of the Mass will have different effects on me on any given today. Today it was the Eucharistic Prayer. I've heard it hundreds of times but today one line really hit me. It begins "Lord, you are holy indeed; the fountain of all holiness" and BOOM! God makes me holy. I cannot make me holy! May seem obvious to some but not me.

Why was this impactful? I go through periods of my life "doing" instead of "praying". I substitute what I believe are good actions for good prayer time. For example, I am busy preparing for a number of upcoming events (retreat weekend 8/15, Calix convention 8/1, Calix meeting at my parish 7/26) plus my normal busy schedule and prayer time gets cut short.

All this to say that I think I realized today that these actions are not what makes me grow in holiness. Don't get me wrong, God needs us to act to fulfill his will. But we can only learn what that is when we "retreat" from this world to spend time with Him in prayer. It is through this prayer time that one can grow in holiness, can grow closer to God. After all He is the fountain of ALL holiness; not some holiness, not most holiness, but ALL holiness.

Thanks for reading and I promise to be be back in less than a week!