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From the Desk of Bishop Héctor: 2025 Lent Message - A Call to Holiness
March 4, 2025 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Editor's Note: The following message was shared with United Methodists of Upper New York and Susquehanna Episcopal Area on behalf of Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
"Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." Leviticus 19:2
Dear siblings in Christ,
Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One, be with you.
Throughout history, Christians have sought to live in response to God's call to holiness. This journey is often challenging—not because it is hard to comprehend, but because we have made it needlessly complicated.
Many people carry with them an incorrect understanding of holiness, making it seem unattainable. Others have encountered toxic expressions of so-called holiness, where “belief” is disconnected from healthy practice. This creates a distorted image that harms, confuses, and discourages.
As we begin this Lent season, I want to briefly reflect on God’s call to holiness as we journey together through Lent as United Methodists in the Susquehanna and Upper New York Area.
God’s Call to Holiness
First, it is crucial to be clear that God’s call to holiness is not reserved for a select few. It extends to all followers of Christ—clergy and laity alike. God told Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them…be holy." (Leviticus 19:2).
To be holy does not mean to be "holier-than-thou,” engaging in meaningless rituals, dry religiosity, or rigidly observing traditions. The biblical call to holiness is nothing else but an invitation to be imitators of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Peter wrote, "Be holy in all you do, just as he who called you is Holy." (1 Peter 1:15).
A holy person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, receives His love, worships Him, lives in obedience to His commands, serves through their spiritual gifts, skills, and resources, AND treats their neighbors with love, mercy, compassion, and justice, as Jesus taught and modeled for us. Biblical holiness involves being welcoming, loving, kind, merciful, compassionate, honest, trustworthy, and fair in all dealings with others (Galatians 5:22-23).
Holiness is primarily cultivated within the church community, but it comes alive in the world through our actions. Nowhere in Scripture are we told to isolate ourselves from the world to avoid “contamination.” Being holy calls us to live in the world, knowing we are called to a more excellent way of life in Christ (John 17:16-18).
Jesus said to His disciples, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16
In our Wesleyan tradition, living in holiness is not an option we pick if and when convenient; it is God's expectation for each of us. It is not merely intellectual consent to a set of beliefs, doctrines, or rules—it is a way of life driven by the Holy Spirit—the life of Christ in us (personal holiness) and through us (social holiness), making a positive difference in our communities and the world.
Striving for holiness is the mark of the people called Methodists. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, asserted that living in holiness is not a distant aspiration or hope but something possible now through Christ’s sanctifying grace, for "it is God who works in you [us] to will and to act to fulfill his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).
Embracing Holiness
In this season, the Holy Spirit is urging us, as United Methodists, to be holy people. To reclaim the joy of the Lord. To grow deeper roots in our faith through spiritual practices like worship, prayer, personal and communal study of the Bible, and to shine brightly with Christ’s light through bold lives of compassion and justice.
If you have felt the weight of incorrect definitions of holiness or been disheartened by toxic expressions, know that true biblical holiness is rooted in love, compassion, and justice—not hate, judgment, selfishness. Holiness means loving God with all our hearts and minds and extending that love to all our neighbors in the way of Christ.
This Lent, let’s reflect and act on the following questions:
- What misconceptions or toxic experiences do you [we as a church] need to let go of to fully embrace God’s call to holiness?
- How can you [we] become more intentional in nurturing your [our] faith and relationship with Jesus Christ through personal and communal worship, prayer, studying Scriptures, and other spiritual practices?
- What concrete acts of love, compassion, and justice is God calling you [us] to this season?
More than ever, our communities and the world need to experience the healing and liberating love of Christ through followers of Jesus that embrace God’s call to holiness, and spread faith, love, compassion and justice everyday and everywhere.
This Lent season, let’s join in praying,
Beloved God, in whom all holiness is found, thank you for the privilege of calling us your children and being Your People. Forgive us for the times we are negligent and set aside your mandate to be holy—to be different, a light shining in the darkness. Through the Holy Spirit, plant your vision of holiness in Christ in our minds and hearts and help us put it into practice in our daily lives. In a world filled with hate, judgment, selfishness, greed, and injustice, may we embody your love, grace, compassion, and justice. You who put in us both the desire and the doing, help us surrender our arguments and excuses and claim the abundant life that Jesus made possible for all through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection.
May this Lent season be a time of self-examination and deep prayer that produce a renewed desire to be holy, as we seek to live the gospel and embody God’s love with our neighbors in all places.
Thanks for all you do to make the love of Jesus Christ visible in your communities and the world.
Together in Christ’s mission,
Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez
Serving the Susquehanna & Upper New York Area
of The United Methodist Church