Many times you will hear about being normal. “This is what normal people do, this is what normal people don’t do.” Yet, the question is does Jesus call us to be normal?

I ask that question in light of an academic reality with normal. Occasionally, I deal with people who have intensely high IQ’s and they find that they do not do well in school. School bores them. I explain that school is made actually for the large majority of people but certain people are outside the norm. School was not made for them and they need to find another form of education that fits them. Do we say they are not normal? In a sense, but that is not a negative term. They have a huge capacity for intelligence and insight that “normal” people do not have.

When we look at the demands of being Christian, we can see that likewise, they are not normal. The world never tells us to love our enemy; indeed, the world tells us to hate our enemy. The world never tells us to forgive. The world never tells us to use compassion when dealing with others and when we do, we are not normal in the world’s eyes. Neither are we normal for attending mass on Sunday or for praying everyday and certainly not for having faith in Jesus. It just is not normal in the world’s eyes. However, we are not called to be normal, we are called to be Holy.

When given the choice between normal and holy, may we choose holy. When we are confessing may whether we chose to be normal or holy be our standard. When we are struggling against temptation may our choice be to be holy instead of normal.

It really is not hard to be normal in most areas in our lives if not all. You and I are called to be above normal, we are called to be holy.