Two monks were walking down a muddy road on a rainy day. They came upon a lovely young girl dressed in fine silk, who was afraid to walk any further because of the flood and the mud.

“Come on girl,” said Brother Francis. And he hoisted her up on his strong arms, and carried her across the mud and the stream of water, and laid her down safely on dry ground..

The two monks walked on in silence till they reached the monastery. There was tension in the air and, upon entering the monastery, the elder monk couldn’t bear it any longer. “Monks shouldn’t go near young girls,” he said, accusingly, “certainly not beautiful ones like that one. What were you thinking of anyway?”

Brother Francis replied, “dear brother, I put the girl safely down on dry ground, but you have brought her into the monastery.”

Which of these monks, do you suppose was the holiest? The one who helped the girl in distress or the one who was too pure to touch her?

The Pharisees thought of themselves as pure, and reduced holiness to the observance of rituals. They criticized Jesus for fraternizing with sinners, for reaching out to women in distress, and for giving hope to the marginalized such as widows, lepers, the blind and the lame. Jesus did not shirk the responsibility of immersing Himself in the real problems of life which, more often than not, brought Him into conflict with the “powers that be.”

The word, holy, dates back to the old English word, halig, which means whole or healthy or complete. Holiness perfects human nature by the addition of God’s grace, but it does not destroy it. It makes human nature whole. Too often, people think that to be holy is to reject what is human rather than to perfect it. So, they put on “holier than thou” airs, and pretend to be what they are not. They seem to forget or ignore the fact that grace builds on nature, and makes it possible for people to reach their true potential as human beings. Jesus came “not to destroy but to fulfill.” He came to raise us up, not tear us down.

For the Christian, holy has reference to the following of Jesus Christ, the son of God who stands apart as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Those who respond to His call to perfection share in His holiness, not by turning their backs on life, but by renewing it.

Our model of holiness is the Lord in regard to the bad habits we need to uproot from our lives, in regard to the virtues we need to cultivate, in regard to the attitudes we need to adopt, and in regard to the efforts we need to make to create a better world for everyone to live in.

Thus are we able to share in the holiness of God by following the example of His son and by availing of the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit, our step-by-step guide, in our journey through life.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy