And that same holiness and love he is striving to reproduce in each member of his Church by the inward working of his Holy Spirit.  “…You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (NRSV, Leviticus 19:2, our emphasis).  And so, in one way or another, in the depths of the soul and by his holy Sacraments, he ceaselessly endeavours to complete within us that total separateness from every taint and that union with himself which is perfection.

And this growth in holiness will be matched by a growth both in one’s love for God, and also in that active goodwill towards one’s fellow human beings which is set before us in the Sermon on the Mount and the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and which in its perfect form becomes a permanent disposition towards all and sundry.

For, as holiness and love are the two essential features in the nature and being of God, so, if we are ever to share his life, they must also be reproduced within ourselves.

That is our goal.  To achieve it we not only have Our Lord’s example: we also have his life and power within his Church.  Only one thing more is needed, that we should also have the will to do it.

Reference

1. © Archbishops' Council of the Church of England (2000) Common Worship Order One in Traditional Language: Nicene Creed.  Available from:
http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/principal-services/holy-communion/orderonetrad.aspx (Accessed 21 May 2013) (Internet).