hprweb.com
2025-11-28
This is a very simple reflection on holiness, a topic given renewed attention by Pope Leo in recent months. The whole Christian life is a "quest for holiness."1 Sacred Scripture insists on this: "Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev 19:1). In Christ, the same call to holiness is a call to perfection centered on the Father: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48). This is our highest calling: holiness. For priests, this is a special charge.
At priestly ordination, the priest is given a specific gift of the Holy Spirit. What is that gift? It is the "Spirit of Holiness." I think this is remarkable! The particular gift of the Holy Spirit in the priesthood is "the Spirit of Holiness." That's our call. That's our life. The ordination Prayer of Consecration from the Roman Pontifical goes: "Grant, we pray, almighty Father, to this your servant the dignity of the priesthood; renew deep within him the Spirit of Holiness . . ."
In his brief papacy so far, Pope Leo XIV has placed new emphasis on holiness as the way of life for the baptized, but especially for the ministerial priest. It's a theme he takes up repeatedly. To young people at World Youth Day in Rome (August 3, 2025) he appealed: "Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less." This call is the springboard for our reflection on holiness, especially priestly holiness. In making this appeal, the Holy Father outlines practices we already have as part of our daily life: the Sacred Liturgy; confession; adoration; prayer; charity, fraternity, pastoral outreach, etc. These practices foster holiness. They are also the practices of the young Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. We don't need to do more things, but rather, to enter more fully into the practices already in place, into what the Lord places before us -- to do regular things with greater love.