Jesus is calling us all to be holy, to repent our sins and to turn back to Him because His goal is to get as many souls, us, to be with God someday in Heaven. But with the influence of the materialistic world, we might mistakenly think that it’s more comfortable and feasible to live sinful lifestyle with ungodly people. Many of us are also very ordinary persons, or poor – probably a housewife, workers with humble jobs, or stricken with poverty or illnesses that it seems impossible for us to practice holiness. But we shouldn’t forget that God doesn’t ask for our material glory; He asks for us to be holy.
Then we question ourselves, ‘Me? Holy? Saint? That is impossible!’ No matter how simple and poor we are materially, as our Saints have proved, it is possible for us to do great things that God wants of us, that is, to turn back to Him and be holy. (When we say “Saint” it could be “Saints” as in the ones who are officially raised to the altars by the Roman Catholic Church, or “saints” who are the departed souls who are able to enter Heaven, either right away when they died, or like the ones who were purified in Purgatory.) The worldly people tell you that it’s impossible for anyone to stop doing his or her sins, be holy, and they even make fun of you, thinking you are ‘crazy’ for desiring to be saints one day. Like Jesus tells us it is possible:
“For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Remember, we don’t just do this by ourselves, and it is by God’s grace that helps us do the holy things.
With the suggestion of St. Francis of Assisi, we should start by doing what is NECESSARY. For example, we want to have a devotion to Our Blessed Mother, and have a deeper closeness with her. We are taught that one way to achieve such is to pray the Rosary. Some people say ‘It’s boring to pray the Rosary everyday, but since it is required or a necessity, I’d do that!” Then we do what is POSSIBLE. No one gets holy overnight, as it is journeying with God. Only baby steps are possible for us earlier. There might be some days you want to skip to pray the Rosary, because you feel tired, busy, remaining work or assignments, or doing something fun. Frankly, I personally don’t see any reasons or excuses of skipping for a normal person. I commonly hear, “It’s hard to pray the Rosary everyday!” Well, I think it’s just a plain excuse. The Rosary is about 15-20 minutes of your day. What is just sacrificing your time for only 15 minutes? You can simply lessen your social media, television, hanging out with friends time to 15 minutes. But for some with acceptable excuses, you first pray the Rosary with the time you could possibly give. God’s grace would then be with us, and suddenly, you would be surprised to see yourself that you are doing the IMPOSSIBLE. Who would have thought you could be a devotee? Who would have thought you could pray each day? Who would have thought you’re closer to being holy? That’s all because of the power of God!
Another sample, you want to stop doing that mortal sin. But you find it hard to change. We know that people need that Sacrament of Reconciliation of Confession to be forgiven, so you go once. Then you sadly are unable to fight the temptations, and fell again to mortal sin. You then get to a priest for a few more times, confessing the same mortal sins. If you have true contrition in your heart, renouncing the sin, God’s grace in Confession would be with you, and sooner, you would hate that mortal sin so much, feel guilty of it and be sorry. You are already able to resist the temptation. Then you would promise God to never commit that similar mortal sin. You too are willing to do Penance.
You see, what started as obligation has put us in the state of grace. Sanctification is only possible with God. In Him, we’d find ourselves doing the things “Impossible” in the eyes of unholy people. Then, when we hear God inviting us to holiness and in turning back to Jesus, we can now answer His call.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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