Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading, God’s sanctity is highlighted. This scripture encouraged me to stop and reflect on God’s sanctity and what this means for us.
The definition of sanctity is “the holiness of life and character: godliness.” In the first reading from the book of Numbers, the Israelites are in the desert and complaining to Moses that they have no water. Moses turns to God for his help, and God directs Moses to draw water from a rock by striking it with his staff. Moses does not follow God’s instructions explicitly, and God rebukes Moses saying “you were not faithful in showing forth my sanctity before the children of Israel.” Sanctity seems to imply more than just holiness in this context. God is holy, but God is also loving, trustworthy, and all-powerful. God wants the people to know that He will provide for their needs, if they trust Him and follow His ways. God reveals His sanctity and calls them to listen and believe.
Sanctity is something we are called to emulate in our lives. We are called to be “holy” or set apart for God. What does this look like for us in our daily living? As I reflect on this concept, I believe that this entails a life where we reflect God’s nature in our daily words and actions, and we strive to do God’s purpose in our daily choices. We cannot be holy- set apart for God- until we recognize God and God’s desire to be in relationship with us. In our openness to growing in our love and trust in God, we begin to live in ways that help reveal God’s love and compassion in our lives. If we are willing, God shares this “sanctity’ with us, and we become conduits of HIs grace to share with others.
We only need to look to Jesus to show us the way to be holy. Living a life of compassion, love, and service to others as Jesus did provides our guide to sanctity. Through prayer, sacrament and scripture we come to know Jesus and we find the path to follow.
Today’s Responsorial Psalm reminds us to not to “harden our hearts” when we hear God’s voice, but to recognize how God shepherds and guides us. May we open our ears and hearts to God’s voice, and may we with joy and thanksgiving recognize God’s sanctity and our invitation to believe and follow.
—Marylynn Herchline