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6 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2024 | DENVER CATHOLIC B E I N G H O LY My starting point must be 'the innermost secret of God' detailed in paragraph 221 of the Catechism of the Catho- lic Church: "God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." To be holy means that we are sharing in the Love (Holy Spirit) that is exchanged between the Father and the Son. How does one do that? Not to worry – Jesus has breathed his Holy Spirit upon us at our baptism and every moment thereafter. The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier, the one who makes us holy. What a relief – we need not figure out how to make our- selves holy! The Most Holy Trinity has provided "the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6) in the resurrected person of Jesus, who invites us to be one with him in his body, the Church! So, each of us is welcomed into the embrace of the Holy Trinity to receive God's infinite, unconditional love and friendship through the Holy Spirit's outpouring of grace in the sacraments, in his teachings, guidance and governance given to us as members of Christ's body, the Church. In holiness, Mary is our mother and our model. We need only look upon the image of Jesus' Most Sacred Heart to be enlivened by the personal, tender, hope-filled, merciful and sweet welcome he offers us. As we look upon that heart pierced by a lance for love of us, notice the wound from which flows the life-giving waters of Baptism and the Most Precious Blood of the Eucharist. This wound is 'the gate' (Jn 10:7) through which we enter and find our home. This is holiness: life in Christ brought about by the out- pouring of the Holy Spirit so that we might share Jesus' life of love with the Father. What joy! 6