A: 7th Sunday of Ord Time (23 Feb 2020) - HOLINESS AND PERFECTION (Mt 5:38-48)

“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

This statement, which is Jesus’ challenge to all his followers, is practically next to impossible to be realized. Certainly, it is only God who is perfect, and we, created beings, are by nature imperfect. Thus, there is no chance that we can elevate ourselves to this same nature of God.

The Greek word used for “perfect” is “teleios” which carries two basic meanings: (a) “without shortcoming in respect of a certain standard” and (b) “brought to completion; fully accomplished” (cf. Mounce). We can notice from the two definitions that “teleios” is not the same as the perfection of God’s essence/nature. Yet, even if we cannot be perfect, we should learn how to witness to “teleios” in two manners, respectively, (a) by persistently meeting a required standard, and (b) by gradually attaining a kind of maturity.

If applied to the episode of our gospel today, we can say that Jesus asks us to love our enemies (Mt 5:44a) because such is the standard set by God himself. In the first reading, we read that God already mandated the Israelites to hate not their brothers and to love their neighbors as themselves (Lev 19:17-18). Fundamentally, God wanted the Israelites to live in a peaceful community as brothers and sisters to one another. By living in peace they would actually accomplish God’s primary command to them: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). Simply put, peace leads to holiness.

Aside from the fact that loving the enemies helps fulfill God’s call toward sanctity, it also leads the agent to a certain kind of maturity. Jesus asks us not only to love our enemies, but he expects us, too, to pray for our persecutors (Mt. 5:44b). When one prays, one actually asks God to bless, to protect, and to shower with success the person prayed for. If Jesus asks us to pray for our persecutors, it is going against the tide of the human nature of desiring malediction to enemies. Truly, albeit within a good amount of time, we can forgive our enemies. But never do we intend that they will have more successful lives or be happier more than we are. At the back of our minds, we realistically hope that they will soon find fate’s vengeance. But such is also God’s command to the Israelites: “You shall not take vengeance or bear grudge…” (Lev 19:7). The opposite of cursing is blessing. When we pray, we ask God’s blessing to be given to another. Praying for our persecutors is, in other words, foregoing our desire to curse or to long for their misfortune. Thus, praying is a sign of authentic maturity.

In a nutshell, in order to realize the challenge of Jesus in our gospel, we need to do two things: to be peace-builders and to be persons of prayer. Building peace does not mean maintaining the absence of conflicts, arguments, and misunderstandings. Such is indifference, not peace-building. St. Francis beautifully puts this truth in the prayer: “Make me a channel of your peace, where there is hatred let me bring your love.” Remember that hatred can be present, but the important thing is that we bring love by channeling peace to occasions of animosity. Also, we are asked to pray for others’ welfare, regardless if they are our friends, our enemies, or even our persecutors. Remember that by wishing for another’s success, we are becoming more mature to accept that we can be weaker, yet, we can be happy for we are satisfied with what we already have… as St. Francis’ prayer fittingly concludes: “Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.”

- Rex Fortes, CM