18 August 2022
Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
How many times must God prove his own holiness? He proved it through Noah. He proved it through Abraham. He proved it through Moses. He proved it through King David. He proved it through Jesus Christ. He proved it through Saint Paul. He proved it through Saint Ignatius Loyola and through many others. But hearing the mockeries and the blasphemies being belched forth from more and more quarters of our willfully secularized world, we start to wonder whether God’s holiness needs to be proven once again.
The first thing to understand, according to Ezekiel 36:23-28, is that God’s great name has been profaned among the nations even by those who call themselves believers! By us! Every time we choose the path of pride and vice, every time we ignore the call to charity and virtue, we, indeed profane God’s most holy name.
May God be merciful to us sinners, and may we never despair of his mercy. On the contrary, let us put our trust in God’s promise: “the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when in their sight I prove my holiness through you” (Ezekiel 36:23). God will prove his holiness through you when you repent (again) and turn back to him, especially in the sacrament of confession. He will sprinkle clean water on you and cleanse you from your impurities. Thus will His holiness proven.