23. Holiness As Sharing God's Life

The words, "Holy, Holy, Holy," are the key to understanding this transformation. We are to become holy. There are a lot of misconceptions about this word. It does not mean weird or odd, but OTHER. God is utterly other and transcends us. God has no beginning and will have no end. He is different. There is no limit to his power, beauty, or knowledge. He is not like us. He is incomprehensible. By common expressions like, "the man upstairs likes me," we give the false impression that God is only one step ahead of us. This is not what or who God is. Nevertheless, this completely other tries to communicate himself to us through the Word.

The Jews did not have any superlative word as in the English, holiest, so they said the same word three times for emphasis. That is why we do the same at Mass. What we are trying to do is to become other. We listen to what God expects of us. He confronts us. He tells us that we are not everything we are suppose to be. Sometimes he comforts us when we are down on ourselves. He wants us to fulfill our calling as children of God. The greatest moment in our lives was at our baptism. We moved from being simply creatures, no matter how beautiful or intelligent, to being children of God, the Father. An infinite gap was traversed between being a creature and then having God's life infused into us. We live out our baptism. If we forfeit this sanctifying grace, the Sacrament of Confession can restore it. The Eucharist (on a regular basis) will help us to become other, to share in God's life.

The setting for what we shall discuss next is called the CANON. Today, they are numbered. The first is called the Roman Canon, and until a few decades ago, the only Eucharistic canon used in the West for hundreds of years. The second is the shortest and for that reason most familiar to those who attend weekday Mass. The third gets large use these days on Sunday. The fourth summarizes the history of salvation. Although their number gives us a little variety, they all have the same basic parts.