How to be good and holy
“Always remember that if I love you, it is because you are little, not because you are good.”
Imagine God telling you that. You are just sitting in church, walking along the road, and you hear a voice that tells you this. How would you react? What would you feel?
Ponder these words in your heart for a moment.
The Lord, Jesus, told a saintly and holy nun, Sister Josefa Menendez this.
What does it mean to be good? Most people would say, being friendly. That’s wrong. Being charitable, maybe? Nope, not there yet. Doing the right thing. We’re scratching the surface, but no.
Being a good person is being a small person. To be good, we must remain small, even childlike in all things we do, say, think, and even pray.
“I could make a saint out of you. But what I ask of you is that you never hold out against My Will. Do what I ask of You. Let me act and humble yourself. I will seek you out in your nothingness and unite you to Myself,” Jesus told the nun.
Right there. That’s the key to holiness. Let go of your will. Seek God’s will, and He will act through you. The moment we seek after God in ourselves, we are on the path to true sainthood. The moment when seek ourselves in God… well as a priest said, “That epitome of selfishness.”
How many times do we fall because we can do something through our sheer will. How many times do we puff our chests up and say, “I did this.”
Is that not pride? Did not pride cause Satan to fall with one-third of the angels. How many times did your pride get you into trouble? I know for me, too many times.
It’s a hard thing to let go of yourself, especially in trials and hardships. That’s why I suggest doing the following:
- Start off small. Feel like you want that extra soda? (I know that I do) Say no to it, and instead of saying, “I did it!” Thank God for giving you the strength to say no. That is the essence of being small and childlike.
- Do something you don’t want to do. Go for that walk. Read that book, pray that rosary, or just talk to God. Start small, and soon, you will find that you delight in these hardships, to the point they become something you want to do. Thank God for pushing you to do it.
- Remind yourself that you are not a bigshot. A CEO is nothing. The president of a superpower is nothing. These aren’t even bacteria before God’s eyes. Remind yourself that you are nothing.
- Take that thought and ponder the fact that God loves you infinitely because you are so small. He sent His only Son to die for you. His Son willingly and lovingly died to save you. Remind yourself that you are everything to God if only you trust in Him and remain little.
- Look at what pride does. Picture Heaven before the Fall. Lucifer was Seraphim, the highest order angel, if not first angel created. Yet, it was his pride that denied God. “I WILL NOT SERVE!” He proclaimed in Heaven, leading the renegade angels. He could not stand the idea of God assuming a lower form than an angel. He could not stand that He would be born from a peasant girl who would one day reign in Heaven as Queen Mother. He was cast out by a lesser angel who boldly proclaimed, “Who is like God?” Thus we get Michael. It was pride that led to the fall of the angels and is what now made them into horrendous monsters of hate and evil.
- Look at how God raises up the humble. Mary, the most modest of humans, is now sitting in Heaven as Queen. Michael now leads the armies of Heaven. Remain small, strive to do better, and God will be with you.
Returning To Catholicism 