Reflecting on the Word

By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger

As I came to the end of today’s Gospel, I got stuck on the word  “consecrated.” Jesus says it three times—asking God to consecrate  “them,” consecrating himself for “them” and that “they” be  consecrated in truth. What in the world does “consecrated” mean?  I went to look up it up. 

From the Greek sense of the word, consecrated means to sanctify,  make holy, purify, or set apart. Its opposite is “common.” Jesus asks  his Father to make his apostles holy, set apart, to make them saints.  He gives himself up for them. The Holy Spirit will come to sanctify,  purify, and set them apart as special for God. 

As I type this sentence about being “set apart,” I look up from  my laptop. To the right of the dining room table where I write, is a  cabinet of dishes that our family has “set apart.” On the top shelf in  the back, are fifteen of my mom’s crystal goblets that we bring out  only for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are not “common.” We  handle them carefully. 

So does holiness mean to be “set apart,” placed on the shelf in  the heavenly “cupboard of the saints” like those goblets? Is holiness  limited to those whom we designate “consecrated” and those who  live in monasteries? Does Jesus’ “them” include us common folks as  well? Is he praying for our holiness, too? 

In the same cupboard, we also have some heavy earthenware  dishes decorated with oak leaves. They are not delicate. They are  special to us, too. 

God’s children are as inexhaustibly varied as fine china and  earthenware dishes. You and I—we are each unique and distinct.  Each of us is created to become holy, divinized, and godlike, in our  own particular way. We each have a sacred purpose in this world. 

Consider/Discuss 

  • Unlike the self-help books that tell us that we are special and “you can  do this,” we cannot divinize ourselves. The self-help movement suggests  to us that we can get “better” under our own steam. How is that working  for you? To be made holy, to be divinized, and to become god-like—that  is a high calling, a great adventure. We need a helper. Jesus prays for the  coming of the Holy Spirit. What happens if we disregard the presence of  the Holy One in our midst and try just to “do it” on our own? 
  • Our world begs for holy and ethical people, not just in the Church, but in  families, business, law, carpentry, technology, politics, caretaking, medicine,  plumbing, and teaching. It doesn’t matter where you rest your head. God  wants you and me to be holy. What does it mean to be continually made  afresh in the image and likeness of God? What is your route to holiness? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Dear God, sometimes I feel that holiness is a word meant for  someone else. I stumble around breaking things. I mess up. I am not  fine china in a glass-enclosed cabinet. I am just as comfortable in my  boots in the dirt as on my knees in a church building. But if that’s  okay with you, then I offer myself to you for sanctification. It won’t  look like someone else’s holiness, but I’ll give you what I’ve got. You  have given me a sense of your presence deep in my heart. Since you  want me to be holy and pure and good, then, please make it so.

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