It is God’s will that we are holy as he is holy. God is love; this is his communal life as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are as holy as we love God and love others. To the extent love becomes more our life, to that extent we will share in the divine life of the Trinity.  Love, above all, reflects the life of holiness.

With this realization as a background, let us continue to read what Paul says after Rom 12:2.  “Each of you (is) not to think more highly of himself than he ought.” (Rom 12:3)   In another place he said: “each of you (should look) to others’ interests rather than to his own.”(Phil 2:4) Notice one of the ways we are to be in the will of God and to renew our own mind concerns how we think of and say to as well as what we do to others. While the world urges us to conform to its thinking, which is focused on the self first and foremost, the will of the Lord is that we focus on the other in love.

There were two brothers: one single, the other married with a number of children. they worked together planting and sowing and grinding the grain. They would divide the grain equally. The single brother said to himself, "I am only one mouth. My brother has many to feed. It is not right that we divide things equally." So he would take some of his grain and, unbeknown to his brother, he would place it in his brother's granary. The married brother said to himself, "Here I have someone to care for me but my brother has no one. It is not right for me to divide the grain equally." Se he too would take some of his grain and place it unbeknown to his brother in the brother's granary. As it happen one night, they met each other on the road to each other's granary with their gift. When they realized what was happening, they embraced in love. And God said, "This place of love is sacred. It is where I will build my church, temple, for here I dwell with you in love."

This is the witness which Jesus gave us by his life. He gave his life that we might have life. “Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friend.” (To be continued)