"Journeying with Jesus:
A Lenten Retreat"

prepared by Women at the Well Ministry,
St. Paul, Minnesota,
Eleanor Lincoln, CSJ, and Catherine Litecky, CSJ
© copyright 2010

Sunday Readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent
Isaiah 43: 16-21
Philippians 3: 8-14
John 8: 1-11

Week 5. Holiness

"Reconcile us to you, O God, that we put on the holiness of Christ and give you glory. Help us to live the season as true disciples on our way to transformation and fullness of life. Grant this as we journey to you with Jesus, our brother. Amen."

This prayer can provide a focus for your Lenten journey with Jesus.



You may want to look at this photo of a passion flower from the land of Jesus as you pray this week.

During Lent we are reminded by the Scripture readings of how important it is for us to keep alive in our hearts a love and trust in the God who calls us to holiness. The special task of the prophet Isaiah was to keep reminding the people of the Old Testament of the holiness of God.

Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we sing or say words associated with Isaiah's own call to holiness when he heard voices saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory."

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus God says, "Be holy because I am holy." The first letter of Peter in the New Testament speaks of God's holiness and our call to holiness with words similar to those in Leviticus: "But as God who calls you is holy, be holy in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written: Be holy because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

The Bible tells us over and over that only God is holy, but that in a marvelous way God shares that divine quality of holiness with us. Each of us is called to holiness, to be a saint, to be a person whose life shows forth the holiness of God!

Each saint is, of course, only a partial expression of God's holiness. A writer said recently that a saint can be described as a person whose life has been revised and edited. If you are a writer, perhaps this description speaks to you.

An even better description is a small child's answer when she was asked what a saint is. She, thinking of stained glass windows in church, said, "Saints are people who let the sun shine through." Saints are people who let God's light shine through them.

The New Testament calls the followers of Jesus a holy people. How might a modern congregation respond if they were addressed as "holy people"?

In his first letter to the Corinthians St. Paul tells the community they are "called to be holy" (1 Cor. 1:12). He addressed the early Christian communities as Saints of God, Holy Ones, and Beloved of God. These are titles you should feel comfortable hearing if you really believe you are called to holiness.

In the New Testament the phrase "community of saints" refers to those who share holy things. We share the sacraments and faith in Jesus and are united to Jesus Christ and in him to one another. We saints share our lives and show active concern for the poor and less fortunate.

In the early years of the church those considered holy people were acclaimed as the martyrs and confessors of the faith. Centuries later much more emphasis was placed on the personal holiness of individual saints and on an elaborate process of canonization.

From the seventh to the twentieth century 75% of canonized saints were male, European, celibate, with ecclesial rank. The few women canonized as saints were virgins, martyrs, widows, and women religious. Saints who achieved holiness through married life are a very small percentage of all those canonized. But we all know many holy people who will never be formally canonized but who are indeed saints.

At the Second Vatican Council bishops and theologians tried to return to the New Testament understanding of the communion of saints. Current official church teaching on holiness reminds us that "Christ is the light of all nations," and that Jesus Christ is the center of all Christian holiness.

The Second Vatican Council describes Christian holiness in these words: "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, those too are the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ." Christians united in Christ must share their lives and show concern for the poor and less fortunate as did the first Christians.

Thus we can be assured that ALL are called to holiness! The way of holiness is not limited to popes, bishops, priests, vowed religious, but is for everyone. Each of us can achieve holiness by faithfully using our personal gifts and talents, by keeping hope alive in this world, and by living in love.

As contemporary theologian, Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, writes in her book on the communion of saints, Friends of God and Prophets (Continuum, 1998): "They are women and men who shine like the sun with the shimmer of divinity, showing the community the face of Christ in their own time and place" (p. 239).

Now take a few minutes to think about the life of a holy person who has touched you deeply. Why do you
think this person is holy? You might want to share with a close friend your thoughts on holy people you
have known or now know.

As you have walked with Jesus during this Lenten season, how has your own sense of holiness expanded and deepened? How are you becoming more reconciled with God as you experience the holiness of Jesus?

If you have been reading the Sunday gospels for this Lent, how have you tried to imitate Jesus: How have you:

resisted temptation as Jesus did in the desert?
recognized moments of transfiguration in your own life?
been patient and nurturing of yourself and others as was the vinedresser in the parable of the barren fig tree?
been loving toward others as was the father of his two self- centered sons?
been as grateful for mercy and forgiveness as was the woman taken in adultery?

Holiness in the New Testament is always based on faith, trust, and love. It involves self-giving as we pray in the opening prayer for this fifth Sunday: "Change our selfishness into self-giving. Help us to embrace the world you have given us, that we may transform the darkness of its pain into the life and joy of Easter."

Seeking to live in holiness we can try to be "people who let the sun shine through" (as the small child described the stained glass window saints) as we journey with Jesus this Lent.

Yes, saints are people who let God's light shine through. Are you becoming more transparent as you progress through this "Journeying with Jesus" Retreat?

"Journeying with Jesus: A Lenten Retreat" will continue with Week 6: Tranformation in Christ