The phrase “Greet one another with a holy kiss” is a biblical command mentioned by the Apostle Paul in several New Testament letters (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26) and by Peter (1 Peter 5:14). It symbolized the unity, love, and equality within the early Christian church, adapting a common cultural practice of greeting with a kiss to a sacred, “holy” act that was to be free from romantic or sexual connotations.
Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that the imagery of “a holy kiss” represents a deep, transformative, and purifying encounter with God’s love and grace. It is not a literal kiss, but a metaphorical one. The “kiss” is a profound spiritual experience with the power to purify the heart, melting bitterness, enlightening ignorance, and leading to genuine remorse for sin. We see this practice in the story of the Prodigal Son.
The father’s embrace of the prodigal son suggest this embrace, or kiss, that contains both agony and ecstasy. The agony is in grasping one’s own misery and distance from God, while the ecstasy is the acceptance and forgiveness. This process is the “purgative embrace” or “purgatory,” a purification by God’s love.
Inside each of us, beyond what we can picture clearly, express in words, or even feel distinctly, we have a dark memory of having once been touched and caressed by hands far gentler than our own. That caress has left a permanent mark, an imprint of a love so tender and deep that its memory becomes a prism through which we see everything else. This imprint lies beyond conscious memory but forms the center of our soul.
In a modern context, it is not meant to be taken literally, but the principle is often applied through other forms of affectionate greetings like eye contact, smiles, warm handshakes, or hugs.
