 Yesterday we heard, be perfected as your Heavenly Father is perfect. It was a call to holiness. Today we have a continuation of that theme, a call to holiness, and it's looking at what do we do and how do we do. We heard in the first reading God loves a cheerful giver. We heard you are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces Thanksgiving to God. Many years ago, God taught me a couple of lessons that he wanted me to appropriate in my life if I'm going to experience the call to holiness in a deeper way, if I'm going to live the call to holiness in a deeper way. The first thing he taught me was, do you really love me? And I said, Lord, yeah, I do love you. I felt like Peter. Yeah, I love you. And he says, when's the last time you told me you love me? Well, I mean, you know I love you. No, no. When's the last time you told me you love me? And I said, Lord, I really don't remember. And he says, that's right. I want you to tell me, not that I hear it, but I want you to hear yourself say to me, Lord, I love you. I really love you. Because when you say this frequently during the day, then you're going to act out of that attitude. You're going to act out of that commitment and conviction of your heart. And you're going to do those things that you do during the day consciously out of love. Which is what St. Paul says, whatever you do and word or deed, do it out of love of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father in him. And so I've learned over the years that if I can live that in my daily life, it really colors my day and my actions. And so I've learned that I could be walking, I could be driving, I could be waiting for an appointment, I could be doing something. I'll just say, Jesus, you know I love you. I really love you, Jesus. I don't care anything back, but that's not important. It's not important that I hear anything back, but that I say that in my heart. And I mean it in my heart. And the second thing God told me was that I want you to be joyful. I said, well, you know, I'm pretty joyful, God. He says, no, I want your attitude to be joyful. And so I want you to get up in the morning and the first thing I want you to say is, I love you. And the second thing I want you to say, it's going to be a great day. It's going to be a great day. And when people ask you, how do you feel? You say, tremendous, fantastic. Because people are not going to believe that you're fantastic. Because you're not supposed to be fantastic in the eyes of the world. You're supposed to be a fine green. But I want you to be fantastic. And I want you to think that way about yourself. And when anybody asks you how you're doing, how's your day? From your heart, not just say the words, I'm fantastic. Today's a great day. And that has helped me to sort of order my day. Am I not perfect? I mean, do some people ruffle my feathers? Well, do they ever? Do I sometimes lose my cool? I do. Do people push my buttons? They do. And I have to come back to that reality. No, I choose to love and I choose to be fantastic. And that why I say that to you because over over the years, people say, how can you be so joyful? You know, as a bishop, how can you be so joyful? And I said, it's a choice. I choose to be joyful in spite of the responsibilities of the office, in spite of the situation that it's in the church today and the world today. I'm going to be talking to the seminaries this afternoon and I've asked them to write questions for me to answer. And one of the questions I'm going to answer again this afternoon, but I want to just give it to you today. He says, what do I do to become a bishop? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don't want to become a bishop. If it's the call of God, you accept it, but you don't want to become a bishop, not in today's world, not with a situation that bishops have to face in today's world. It's exactly the same thing with a priest. A lot of people wonder why you want to be a priest. In today's world, it doesn't look like a location you should answer, but we know why we accepted the call. And so how do we apply that to our readings today? Well, to grow in holiness is to act in love with generosity and Thanksgiving. And so the three things that Jesus talks about today in the Gospel, almsgiving, prayer and fasting, are not something that are things to do to get holy. They're neutral of themselves in a sense, but it's how we do these things which enable us to grow in holiness. Jesus points out in the Gospel that people are doing what they're doing to please others, to be noticed by others, to be looked upon favorably by others. And he says, if that's why we're doing what we're doing, then we have our reward. But he's saying, I want you to do it from another attitude. I want you to do it because you want to please the Father. That nothing else is important in your life. That you know that you know that you know that the Father loves you beyond measure. That you are a beloved son of the Father. And because you are a beloved son of the Father, you want to respond in love. And that's what love does, as Saint Therese says, love is repaid by love alone. There's no other way to respond to love except love. And each of us has been loved by God in a way that we can never, never, never begin to repay Him, but it's looking for, do you love me in return? Not that I need your love. You need to love me. Because it's in your love for me that you're going to grow in relationship to me. It is in your love for me that you're going to come into deeper intimacy with me. It's in your love for me that you will become the man that I've called you to be. And so what is our attitude when we pray or fast or give alms? What is our attitude when we talk to people? What is our attitude when people call us when we are busy about many things? What is our attitude? Is that God calling me at that moment to deal with this person at this moment? What does God want me to do? To say I'm too important and I don't have time for you? To say that I'll see you another time because this is more important than you? What does God want me to say? He wants me to say what you did to the least you did to me. And this is person at this time and this situation is Christ to me. And Christ is saying, do you love me? Will you take your time generously give to me of yourself? For I need you at this moment to minister to me. And so whether it is almsgiving, fasting, or prayer, what do we do? Why do we do it? What is our attitude? Do it in love. Do it generously and do it in thanksgiving.