Even though you probably can’t remember it, your baptism is one of the most important moments in your life. In that moment you were freed from the tyranny of sin, claimed for God through the sign of His Cross, and filled with His Holy Spirit. Just before the baptism of an infant, the priest or deacon turns to the parents and godparents and tells them, “For your part, you must strive to bring them up in the faith, so that this divine life may be preserved from the contagion of sin, and may grow in them day by day.” Holiness is not just for priests and nuns. Everyone is called to a life of holiness. It may be intimidating at first, but it simply means that God wants us, with the help of His grace, to strive to follow Christ. It’s not always easy, but, with God’s help, it is possible. So, how do we do it? How do we answer God’s call to live a holy life? First, go to Mass. What happens to your body when you don’t eat enough good food? First, you start to get weaker. Next, you start to get sick. Then, you die. Exactly the same thing is true in the spiritual life. If you don’t eat spiritual food (that is, the Eucharist) you won’t have the strength to live a spiritual life. You won’t have the life of God within you. Do you think I’m exaggerating the importance of Mass? Well, listen to what Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:53-54). Second, pray every day. How do we know what Jesus wants us to do? How do we know how to follow Him? We have to get to know Him, and we get to know Jesus the same way that we get to know anyone else: by spending time with Him, talking to Him, and listening to Him. People often ask me to tell them how to pray, but the “how” of praying is easy. Just talk to Jesus and listen to Him. The trick is actually doing it. It can be very helpful to write a simple rule of life for yourself. A rule of life is a rule (like a ruler), or guideline for how to live your life. Religious orders, for example, have rules of life for their members. In your rule of life you’ll want to set aside time every day for prayer. Obviously, you have to be flexible, but in general that time should be sacred; you should think of it as God’s time, not your time. Also, try to find a quiet place to pray without too many distractions. If you can come to our adoration chapel, that would be perfect, but I also recommend setting up a place in your home to pray. If you’re faithful to your time of prayer, then it will start to become a normal part of your routine. Finally, go to confession. All of us, every one, sometimes fails to follow Jesus, to listen to Him, and to love Him. That’s why He gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is where we repair our relationship with God when we’ve damaged or broken it through sin. When we read the lives of the saints, we see that they went to confession regularly; Pope St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta went to confession every week. It’s good to try to go at least once a month. As you go more regularly, it will get easier, you’ll be less nervous, and you’ll start to see which sins you struggle with the most, which will tell you where you need to work on your relationship with God. Weekly Mass, daily prayer, and regular confession are the foundation of a good spiritual life. Then, you can build on that foundation through devotions, acts of faith, and good works. At the Easter Vigil Mass, after the new Christians have been baptized, they’re presented with candles lit from the Paschal Candle. The Paschal Candle, lit for the first time at the Easter Vigil, represents the Resurrection and the light of Christ coming back into the world. As the candles are presented, the celebrant says, “You have been enlightened by Christ. Walk always as children of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your hearts. When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” May we, and all of the baptized, keep the flame of faith alive through the sacraments, prayer, and charity, that we too may be ready to meet the Lord when He comes to judge the living and the dead and the world.