In the first reading from the book of Joshua today, Joshua, exhorts the people of Israel with a challenge:
“Joshua in turn said to the people,
“You may not be able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God;
he is a jealous God who will not forgive
your transgressions or your sins.” (Joshua 24: 19)
The Lord is indeed a holy God, the source of all holiness. And yet, at the same time, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says,
“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
Our goal is to be holy; to strive for saintliness. Our mission as Christians is to labor for holiness, to move toward the source of all holiness, and to conform our lives entirely to the will of God, having complete and total dependence on God for our living, moving, and having being. In the end, there is a peaceful simplicity to this total trust in God, a letting go fo all our anxieties and concerns as we surrender to the Father’s will. Just like a child can trust his or her parents for everything, so we can all approach God, serve Him, love Him, worship Him, and ultimately become united to Him.