This Alone

"... Anyone of whom it could be said at the end of his life--'he did the will of God'--is perfect.

"And we must be clear about this; there is no other way of being perfect.  All the exercises of religion we have mentioned--prayer, reading, the sacraments, dialing Communion, the Mass--however holy in themselves, are only means to an end.  Their use and practice, however frequent and fervent, do not constitute holiness.  They are a great help to holiness, but holiness itself is something quite different.  Holiness is something which affects every moment of our life, something which is rooted in the depths of our being.  It is a permanent union with God, a constant abiding in Christ by lovingly doing His will, always and in all things.

"This alone will make our life fruitful.  We see the saints praised for their great works; we are told of their great talents, their organizing ability, their keenness of intellect, their excellence of judgment, their literary skill, and their extensive learning.  They are famous for their ingenuity, their originality, their initiative, their miracles, their apostolic success, their power over souls.  In a word, they are presented to us as great men and women.  And we are tempted to think that the possession or the achievement of such greatness, if it is not holiness itself, is at least an essential part of it.  The truth is quite otherwise."

               ~~Boylan, This Tremendous Lover, ch. 15.