Be holy is the simple message of today's readings.

As children, most of us believed in perfection as an attainable goal. Maybe not our own particular perfection (I was never going to get an A in science!), but the finish line was clearly marked out and someone was going to cross it.

A truck driver, in a hurry, pulled into a parking spot, jumped out of his car, and ran into a store. A moment later another driver came out of the store, and when she got to her car, she saw that she couldn't open the driver door because the truck had parked too close to her car.

Maybe something similar has happened to you. Sitting at a table in front of an ice cream parlor on a warm summer night, a group of friends and I were gently shaken out of our sugar-and-chocolate reveries by an elderly woman.

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Teach us to give and not to count the cost.