Psalm 119:9 – How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 

So here we have a clear answer on how to be pure. It is according living your life according to the Word of God. 

1 Peter 1 :15 &16 – Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

But why do we need to be holy? Can’t we just live life the way it is? Just go for Sunday mass, and that’s it! Being holy is just that?

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Many people be like seeing God, we cannot even hear God! First of all we do not even know what God wants from us. We do not even feel his presence. Sometimes we cannot, we are not in a relationship with Him. Many people will be like this but there are people in this world who can see Jesus face to face, who can hear Jesus, who know what Jesus wants from them, who are in a constant supernatural relationship with Jesus and these people they know what Jesus wants from them and these people are called SAINTS.

Definition of a saint

A saint is a person recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness and closeness to God. Yes saints are people who can do all these things. They can see Jesus, they can speak to Jesus, they are in a constant supernatural relationship with Jesus. 

We may all think saints are dead people; they are gone, and we are living.

Examples of some saints

St. Dominic Savio was just a fourteen year old boy, St. Agatha was a fifteen year old girl, a teenager. St. Joan of Arc was a nineteen year old. St. Louis and St. Zelie, were a French, Catholic married couple. All these people were not priests, they were not nuns, but they were just ordinary people like us.  

What made them extraordinary from the ordinary? It is because they lived a holy life. These people were considered saints way before they died. Even when they were alive, these people were known as living saints. 

St. Padre Pio, St. Francis Xavier and St. Alphonsa, all the famous saints around the world, were recognized before the Church, canonized as saints way before that when they were alive. They were living lives of holiness and they were considered to be living saints.

Saints are dead people. The early Christians used to refer to each other as saints. 

Acts 9:32 – Now as Peter went here and there among all the brothers and sisters, he came down also to the saints living in Lydda.

They are not talking about dead people. These people were alive. 

Ephesians 1:1 – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Here they are not talking about dead people but they are talking about people who are alive.

Why are these people called saints?

They are called saints because they lived a holy life among the trials, the persecutions,and the temptations of this world. These holy people, these Christians, the early Christians, all saints who were mentioned, St. Francis Xavier, St. Padre Pio, St. Dominic Savio,  St. Don Bosco, St. Alphonsa and even priests and nuns who are living a holy life, they are called saints because their life is a true definition of holiness. Without holiness we cannot see God. 

Questions regarding Holiness

Why is it considered uncool to be holy in today’s society? Why is being holy, being modest, being pure, being chaste, being a virgin, considered as being uncool in today’s society?

People leading holy lives are considered as psychos, psychopaths, weird, lame, outcast, and a waste of time. What is the reason? 

It is because the loser of all loser’s, that is the Lucifer, makes all the holy things, for example, going for regular mass regular confession, dressing in a very modest way and being holy in mind, body, soul, look uncool. He makes these things look socially unacceptable. 

But the unholy things, like dressing immorally, exposing your body, taking drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, losing your virginity before marriage, sending nudes, physical relations and relationships which are not natural in the sight of God, tattoos, firing bad words, watching dirty movies, watching pornographic materials, listening to bad songs, bad music with dirty meaning, dirty words, etc. Are made cool, normal, and socially acceptable.  

The youngsters these days get scared to post about Jesus. They worry about getting bullied, and being made fun of. They post about some rappers, footballers and their own pictures because if they post about Jesus and something holy, people would make fun of them and would throw them out of their group. It is even sad that even in some Churches, some members of the Church youth groups make fun of people who are trying to be holy. 

But today everything is going to change because we are all called to be a holy saint and set apart for Jesus, ready to do His will, ready to stand for Him, live for Him, die for Him. We should not be afraid of this wicked society, this world which we think is cool today, is going to perish. 

Psalm 1:6 – for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Ezekiel 2:6 – And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

The society is cunning and wicked. The way they dress, the way they walk, the way they talk, the trends that are going on, we should not be afraid. If we are not accepted, we should not worry. If we do not follow, nothing is going to happen, but we know what is going to happen.

Psalm 37:34 – Wait for the Lord and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

Be calm, be patient for the Lord is good. One day, we will see the society perish.

Tips to become a Holy Saint and to fight temptations.

• Put God first
• Then everyone – Our parents, relatives, friends.

Sin enters our life when we give first place to others and not God. It also includes giving first place to ourselves. It’s the death of us. Certain things like giving first place to ourselves, thinking we are better than others, we are the most beautiful, most handsome in the world, we think that others are low caste, others are ugly, others are poor, we are the coolest, we have the most expensive clothes, we have a supreme taste and so we criticize others. Even the smallest petty mistakes of others are criticized. When someone corrects us, we feel so hurt, we get so angry and tell that person we know everything. We are not submitting to our leaders. We have this problem. It’s very difficult to submit to our superiors when they tell us something. When our teacher tells us something, it’s very difficult. 

We have entertained the sin of pride. We don’t greet others first and we want others to wish us. We should not forget that the choir master of Heaven who was even known to be more powerful than St. Michael was kicked out of Heaven because he entertained the sin of pride. He gave God second place and he gave himself first place and that is why he is known as a devil. He thought himself better than the other angels.

Bible verses about pride

Proverbs 11: 2- When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble.

Proverbs 29:23 -A person’s pride will bring humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

James 4:6 – But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud  but gives grace to the humble.”

If we think we are the best, if we think others are low, if we think we are something big, God will bring us low. We will fall down within no time. We might be sitting on the top positions but if we think we are something big, we will drop. If we think we are the best, if we think there is no one better than us, if we think we are the number one, we will be number zero. 

How to get rid of pride?

• The medicine to get rid of this pride is CONFESSION. There is no better remedy or no better medicine than confession. We might be the biggest sinner, biggest blasphemer, biggest murderer, the worst criminal, the worst sinner, prostitute, we have done all the bad things but confession is the ultimate medicine. 

If satan comes and tells us that we are the best in the world and there is nobody like us, we should keep on saying this, “Jesus you are the best, you are a hero, I am a zero. Jesus without you I am useless. Jesus must increase, I must decrease “. We should keep on repeating this unless the temptation goes and we are not controlled by evil spirits. Let us keep ourselves humble. Let that loser know that Jesus is the best. 

• Making yourselves low. Telling Jesus you are the best and I am a zero. Cleaning dishes, cleaning the toilet, helping our mama, all these works which are very low. We should consider ourselves the lowest. We should consider servants of the people. We should consider ourselves zero.

Proverbs 11: 2- When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble.

Wisdom is one of the most powerful gifts.

What is wisdom?

Proverbs 3:15 – Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. 

• Obey you parents 

Exodus 20:12 – Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

If we want to become a holy saint, we have to honour our father and our mother. 

• Lust – This is one of the most cunning temptations. It is not only of our thoughts but also includes our body and physical temptations. Some people cannot look at a woman or a man without getting sexually attracted to them; we entertain sexual fantasies in our mind. We are thinking all the time that we want this girl, this boy, we want to see them. We are addicted to porn, to masturbation, to dirty films; we are having physical relations before marriages. Even kissing before marriage is not permitted. Going to the prostitutes, online sex, using sex toys, exchanging nudes, these all should be stopped as our body is a Temple of God. We should not send our nudes to anyone even though they might be very good to us. We think living together before marriage is holy, then we wonder why our marriage is not working, and why we are getting divorced? Live in relationships are not natural in the sight of God. Pedophilia, phone sex, all these are considered unnatural. 

1 Corinthians 6 : 9 &10 – Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, men who engage in illicit sex, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

Why do we we feel life is not working out because somehow or the other we have the sin of lust.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 & 5 –  that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passion, like the gentiles who do not know God; 

St. Augustine of Hippo, saint of all the saints who were the worst of the worst, was a womanizer, an atheist. He got a child out of wedlock. But what converted was confession. If we feel any sexual temptations, lustful feelings towards a boy or a girl, pray for that person. The devil tries to trick us. We turn that temptation into a prayer. We are all normal human beings. We will have all these tendencies but we should not entertain it. We should fight these with prayer. If we are getting these feelings, we should pray that Lord we offer up into your hands, wash us with your precious blood and fill us with your Holy Spirit. 

1 Corinthians 15:33 – Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals. ‘

If we want to be a saint, we should cut off from bad friends.

• Keep our tongue clean. Not clean from poison or all these things, clean from gossip, clean from idle talks, clean from making fun of others, clean from bullying others, clean from cursing others, clean from firing bad words, clean from being sarcastic or hurting others, clean from unnecessary talks. We should keep our tongue holy. 

If we have done all these things, let us all run to confession. Confession is where a sinner is made Holy. 

CONFESSION 

1) Regular Mass

2) Regular visit to the Blessed Sacrament

3) Look at the image of Mama Mary and Jesus

4) Intercede ‘wash us with Your precious blood, and fill us with Your Holy Spirit’

5) Post about Jesus on social media

6) Cut off bad friends

7) Keep your tongue clean

Following all these, we will become a Holy Saint. The Pope will come to canonize us. We will be such a powerful saint. The reward of being a holy saint, living a life of a saint is that we will be in a supernatural relationship with God, we will hear what God wants from us, we will see Jesus face to face, we will know what he wants from us, we will be filled with blessings after blessings if we are holy, prosperity will be in our front, and in our back. Peace, happiness, and joy will be in our life. These are the rewards of holiness. 

Being a holy saint 

Why should we be holy?

For the torture, for the pain, for the suffering, for the 5,000 plus wounds, for the passion, for the sufferings that our Saviour, our Jesus went through. 

St. John Paul II – “Do not be afraid to be the Saint of the new millennium.”

Transcribed by Jusfica Lobo