Holiness and love go together. A holy person does everything with love, from the start of the day until the end. If we do not have love, we have nothing. We may have a deep knowledge of scripture, a dynamic personality, a high IQ, a great job, and so on, but if we lack true love in our relationship with the Lord and others, we have nothing. Love is our highest calling: Love God overall and love others as Jesus has loved us. The more we grow in love, the more we grow in holiness. Growing in love involves small things each day, a smile, a friendly handshake, a kind word, an apology for an offense we have committed against someone else. Some of the greatest saints in the church did not accomplish any "great" things from a human point of view, but they saturated their daily tasks with the love of God and reached a deep union of love with Jesus.
             The more open we are to receiving God's love and being vessels of God's love for others, the more we will find ourselves being used by the Lord to bless other people. As we sow holy and loving thoughts, words, and deeds into our lives and those around us, we shall eventually see a harvest of holiness come forth. God is faithful and always keeps his word. If we obey the precious word of our Savior, we will bear much fruit for the kingdom and fruit that will last. Jesus identifies himself with the poorest of the poor and says that whatever we do for them, we do to him. If we love street people, prostitutes, and others who are marginalized in our society, we will be loving Jesus. We are called to "reach out and touch someone."
             ...