Sunday, Feb. 23, is the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, Cycle II).
Mass Readings
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
Our Take
Today’s Gospel ends with the famous line, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
That line has caused a lot of trouble in Christian circles.
It has convinced some people that the Gospels call us to an unattainable ideal.
This line has convinced others that perfection, in the sense of flawlessness, is possible. Some people have tried very, very hard to be perfect, only to end in failure and discouragement.
To understand what the point of this line is, we must look at the context. Jesus doesn’t just say, “Be perfect.” He uses the phrase to finish a whole list of instructions.
Specifically, he says:
“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.”
Jesus points out that sinners are kind to their friends and family and their like-minded acquaintances. If we are proud of ourselves for serving our fellow Catholics/other Christians only, we need to realize that this is not the charity we are called to. If we are counting it a great act of love for us to serve people in our neighborhood or our family, whom it would actually be a scandal not to serve, we need to rethink that, too.
Our standard is different because it is God the Father’s standard. He serves everyone. So we should do as he does: Be perfect as God is perfect.
Which brings us to the word “perfect.” Another good place to look, besides biblical context, when the Bible throws us for a loop is a good dictionary.
What does this word really mean? It is clear Jesus is not asking us to be perfect in every way that the Father is perfect: He is purity itself and the essence of being. We couldn’t be perfect in those ways if we tried.
Yes, one meaning of perfect is, according to Merriam Webster, “being entirely without fault or defect: flawless.”
But there are many other senses in which the word can be taken — then and now: “satisfying all requirements”; “expert, proficient”; “pure, total”; “lacking in no essential detail”; “complete” and “unmitigated.”
In light of these meanings, we are called to be perfect followers of Christ by satisfying all requirements of being Christlike, giving pure hearts to him through our words and actions and by having an unmitigated desire to love all.
St. Paul even says so. In our second reading, he says to “become a fool, so as to become wise.” He says the worldly “perfect” people don’t please him: “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In practice, the perfect love we are called to has always been the call of God. Moses heard the same advice, after all:
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: 'Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.' … Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
Today’s Gospel advice to be perfect is a call to love how God loves — and that means loving our friends, our neighbors and even our enemies because he does.
Tom and April Hoopes write from
Atchison, Kansas, where Tom is
writer in residence at Benedictine College.
Image via Flickr Share Alike license
Click to View Comments
Comments
Join the Discussion
Everybody ALREADY tries to be perfect, makes perfect sense! engineers and make-up artists; sculptors and ice skaters; carpenters and graphic artists; we all strive for perfection. Humanity RISES! thank you Jesus for showing us who we really want to be.
Don’t know how we can improve on the Word of God—How wonderful our “Heavenly Father”—always ready to forgive the prodigal son/daughter who turns to Him! We are also called to follow HIS Example and forgive….
Every saint in heaven is perfect: “being entirely without fault or defect: flawless”. In faith we shall be “holy and blameless in his sight.” God’s grace and mercy make us perfect. We do not earn it on our own like pelagians, but we do cooperate with his grace and mercy to be made perfect. If it doesn’t happen here on earth, it will be completed in purgatory.
Perfection, in the sense of flawlessness, is not only possible, it is our Catholic belief for all who are saved. Purgatory is not there to make us “mostly good” or like the Protestant “snow-covered dungheap”. The glory of a soul united to Christ in heaven is indeed “flawless”, “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” (Eph 5:27)
“What is impossible with man is possible for God.” (Luke 18:27)
Perhaps Jesus meant that we should avoid evil and we are certainly capable of doing that given all the graces He gives us.
Well, since our purpose here on earth is to become saints and boost others to heaven too, I’ve always had a sense that WE ARE PERFECTABLE, ONE HABIT AT A TIME… Lent is a good time to be aware of those steps toward perfection which give us the grace to see our journey toward that end. Easter is a good time to retain and continue in those steps toward perfection and practice temperance—one habit at a time—until the next Lent. :)
Join the Discussion
We encourage a lively and honest discussion of our content. We ask that charity guide your words. By submitting this form, you are agreeing to our discussion guidelines. Comments are published at our discretion. We won’t publish comments that lack charity, are off topic, or are more than 400 words. Thank you for keeping this forum thoughtful and respectful.
Comments are no longer being accepted on this article.