Be Perfect Just as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect.
The fundamental call and the bottom line of a Christian is holiness. Christians are looking for nothing other than holiness, and a Christian who fundamental call is not holiness is not a Christian. This Sunday's readings call us to that holiness in by imitating God our Father in heaven who is perfectly holy and Perfect. In the gospel, Jesus calls us to be perfect just as our heavenly father is perfect. The. original meaning of "perfect" in Hebrew and the Aramaic dialect which Jesus spoke is "completeness" or "wholeness" that is, "not lacking in what is essential." Jesus invites our whole self to be perfectly holy as God is.
His command seems to have parallel two passages from the Old Testament Scriptures. The first is where God instructed Abraham to "be perfect/blameless" before God (Genesis 17:1). The second is the command in today's first reading that God gave to Moses and the people of Israel to "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2). God created each one of us in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26,27). That is why he calls us to grow in maturity and wholeness so we can truly be like him - a people who loves as he loves and who chooses to do what is good and to reject what is evil (Ephesians 4:13-16).
Was Jesus exaggerating when he said we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)? To answer this question, we must understand what Jesus meant when he called us to be perfect and holy. Holiness can be understood in two ways. First and the most important one is the internal holiness of our hearts and souls. Our thoughts, desires, longings must bear no evil in them and must be in line with God will and commandments. our hearts and souls must be pure, spotless and blameless wishing the other only that which is good; in short, our hearts must be benevolent.
The second way of understanding holiness is what is emphasized on in today's readings, and that which is born by our internal holiness, that is, holiness in our actions and the way we live with one another. This can be reverence towards the sacraments, the sanctuary, the Church, the sacred vessels, respect of the clergy and all acts of piety. It can also be holiness in the way we talk, the way we behave, the way we dress, the way we do things and the like. St Paul in the second reading gives us the fundamental part of this holiness, that is, keeping our bodies SACRED because they are the temples of God and anyone who defiles or destroys this temple God will destroy him. Above all, as Christians, we obtain this holiness in a much as we are able to show God's mercy, love and charity towards our neigbours both our friends and enemies, treating the poor and the unfortunate as God himself through Jesus treated them. Particular to today's readings, there must never be vengeance among God's people but love and forgiveness which God himself through Jesus has shown and shows his people. This is to be Holy as God is Holy.
To reinforce this fundamental calling, Jesus corrects ad expands two Old Testament laws just as he did last Sunday. First the law in Exodus 21:23-25 which held that "if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" by teaching forgiveness and totally avoiding revenge, and above all responding to evil with good not evil with evil. This is what I have continuously called Jesus and Non-Violence; the best way to solve conflicts. The first reading put it clear that "You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:18).
The Spanish proverb says: “To return evil for good is devilish. To return good for good is human. To return good for evil is godlike.” In our witness of the Gospel, vengeance has no place even as Saint Paul tells us: “Do not repay evil for evil but take thought for what is noble right in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:17-21). and so, Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done" (Proverbs 24:29).
Secondly, though nowhere in the Old Testament does it say that we should hate our enemies, some traditions among the scribes and Pharisees held this erroneous belief and that why Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, love your neighbour and hate your enemy” Jesus corrects this and expands it by teaching equal treatment and putting no limits to our love by loving everyone including our enemies, praying for those who persecute us while imitating God and indeed Jesus himself who makes the rain fall on both the good and the evil. This has also been a teaching in the Old Testament too: If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink (Proverbs 25:21).
What does it mean to pray and love your enemy. One Church Father says that we love our enemy “when we are not sorrowful at his success or rejoice in his fall.” This is a very helpful definition to consider. If you cannot rejoice or congratulate your enemy if he succeeds or if you are rejoicing at their downfall and failure in life, then we fall in the sin of not following what Jesus teaches and we are not perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. If we merely hate our enemies, we hurt ourselves more in the spirit than we have hurt them physically. Perhaps we don't harm them at all by hating them but torn ourselves apart. If then you are benevolent to an enemy, you have rather spared yourself than him. And if you do him a kindness, you benefit yourself more than him. Christ ordered us to love our enemies for the sake of cherishing them but also for the sake of driving away from ourselves what is bad for us. Only by following this can we be children of our Father in heaven, imitate his holiness and perfection. There can be no enmity in Christianity, otherwise it ceases to be.
Let us Pray.
Lord God, teach us to love those who hate us; to pray for those who despitefully use us; that we may be the children of your love, our Father, who makes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the just and the unjust. May this guide us to always work for peace, perfection and holiness. Amen.
Be blessed
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