TRUE HOLINESS IS TRULY HUMAN
I had an amusing experience in one of my travels to the Holy Land. Whenever we did a “comfort room stopover,” our Israeli tour guide would ask each one of us as we go back to our bus, “Did you remember to wash your hands?” This routine question was not just for sanitary and hygienic purposes, but one conditioned by his socio-religious upbringing. The Jewish religious tradition has stiff and meticulous pointers on cleanliness.
Muslims also do a lot of ceremonial washings. Entrance to their mosques requires not only the removal of footwear, but also the washing of feet, hands, eyes, ears and mouth. Likewise, during the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, the priest also does ablutions — that is, the washing of his hands — as he prepares the gifts of bread, wine and water on the altar.
The ceremonial washings practiced by religions flow from our belief that God whom we seek to encounter and approach is All Holy. Therefore, we also need to come before Him clean and worthy.
What we fail to remember at times is that what God really values is the heart, or what is inside us. We often focus on external details of worship — on the right words and actions, right doctrines, and such other points. But what we forget is that we are — with our whole mind, heart, and will — the true glory of God. We are God’s greatest work, the Temple of His Spirit. True worship of God means living up to our dignity in truth, in justice and love. True worship includes seeing to it that we give due respect to other people.
Mystery of the Incarnation underscores the value of humanity before God. This Christian mystery celebrates Jesus’ being True God and True Man. The plan of God does not negate human nature but the renewal of our appreciation of true humanity as made in the image of God. Mother Teresa of Calcutta had this at the heart of her mission. She saw to it that every sick and dying who came under her care was given due respect in treatment, and proper burial according to the dead person’s religious conviction. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How do you offer God true worship? How often do you celebrate the Sacrament of Confession? How do you value this Christian Sacrament?
Lord Jesus, help me to always remember to come clean before You — in thought, word and deed.
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