Feb 23 2020 Reflection
Sunday 23 February 2020
First Reading: LV 19:1-2, 17-18
Responsorial Psalm:
The Lord is kind and merciful.
PS PS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Second Reading: 1 COR 3:16-23
Gospel Reading: MT 5:38-48
Today’s Note: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Reading:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Reflection:
Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
How could Jesus say such a thing? He knows we’re human; he knows that we can never be perfect in the sense of never committing a sin. So how can we live out this commandment?
Fortunately, God has given us some models to follow: the saints. Because they were human, they were sinners, just like us. But they were “perfect” in God’s eyes nonetheless. Their perfection rested not in their sinlessness but in their commitment to love God and their neighbor with all their hearts (Matthew 22:37-39). It was their own experience of God’s love that allowed them to follow the Lord wherever he led and to love other people with the love that came from God. And so they made it their aim to be as merciful and generous as possible (5:39-40). They strove to love their enemies just as faithfully as they loved their friends and to pray for those who persecuted them (5:44-46).
Think, for instance, how Blessed Charles de Foucauld turned from a life of indulgence and selfishness and moved to the Algerian desert to live among the Tuareg people as a witness to Christ’s love. Or how St. Alphonsus Liguori left a thriving law practice to become a priest so he could proclaim God’s message of mercy. Or how St. Monica was so patient with her short-tempered, unbelieving husband that he eventually became a Christian.
The point is, “perfection” isn’t out of our reach. It is about loving God in a way that causes us to change our lives and do whatever he asks of us. It’s about loving our neighbors—and even our enemies—with the love that God has for us.
So don’t get discouraged when you read this Scripture verse. God is merciful; he knows that you’re a sinner. But he also knows that you can become “perfect”—with his love and grace.
“Saints in heaven, intercede for me so that I can love God and my neighbor as you did.”
