“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48
OUR VERY NATURE
Sofia
did everything excellently. She graduated top of her class and won
every competition, whether in sports or academics. But she never owned
up to her distinctions. When people admire her by saying, “Oh you’re so
gifted, Sofia!” she replies, “Oh no, that’s nothing. I won by chance,
that’s all.”
Sounds familiar?
Our culture dictates that owning up to excellence is boastful, but in
today’s readings, the Lord reminds us that excellence is our
very nature as Christians. God made us in His image and likeness;
therefore, we have the capacity to do good at all times. Let me say that
again, “at all times.” We are not “just humans,” as we often justify when we sin. We are “the humans” that God loves above all His creations, and who are made capable of striving for perfection.
Friend, you are more than you think you are, and you can do more than
you think you can. Never underestimate your God-like capabilities
because you’re made perfectly for your purpose by a perfectly awesome
God. Well, that’s definitely something to be proud of! Pia Angelica Suiza
1ST READING
God
has given us an outline of how to live a good and holy life. We may not
be inspired by rules and regulations but whether we like it or not,
they are essential to any group or society. Lawlessness will never be
able to create a wholesome community. We need laws that call us to
respect the legitimate rights of one another.
Deuteronomy 26:16-19
16 Moses
spoke to the people, saying: “This day the Lord, your God, commands you
to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe
them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today
you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and
you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and
decrees, and to hearken to his voice. 18 And
today the Lord is making this agreement with you, you are to be a
people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all
his commandments, 19 he
will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other
nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your
God, as he promised.”
P S A L M
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
R: Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
1 Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (R) 4 You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. 5 Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes! (R) 7 I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I have learned your just ordinances. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. (R)
GOSPEL
Jesus
commands us to be perfect because His Father in heaven is perfect. This
may not be so difficult for Him, but it is next to impossible for us.
However, true faith will make us see this command as an encouragement to
never give up in seeking holiness and obedience to God’s law and His
will.
Matthew 5:43-48
43 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
REFLECTION
THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED
Do
you have days when you feel “far” from God? Perhaps you are weighed
down by trials and tribulation. Perhaps you are struggling with a
personal sin that makes you feel unworthy of God’s love. I have those
days. When they come, don’t you feel jealous of others who seem to live
in intimacy with God? This is why today’s Gospel is such a reassurance.
Jesus reminds us of a God who “makes his sun rise on both the good and
the bad, and gives rain to the just and unjust.”
When those days come for me, I think of St. John, the writer of the
fourth Gospel but also referred to simply as “the disciple whom Jesus
loved.” We know that it was John who leaned at Jesus’ breast at the Last
Supper. We know, too, that among all the Apostles, it was only he who
stood by the foot of the cross together with Mary and the other women.
He was not only loved by Jesus. He lived his life loving Jesus in
return.
“The disciple whom Jesus loved” — what a unique designation, what an
intimate title! I wonder if the other disciples felt a little jealous
that only John is called the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” I know I am.
How I wish I could also claim that appellation. But I believe this is
what John the evangelist is telling all the readers of the Gospel. Even
though we know it was John, John never identified himself by name in the
Gospel he wrote. It was always the anonymous phrase, “the disciple whom
Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is telling us that everyone can be that
“disciple whom Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is inviting every person who
picks up the Bible to supply his own name in that title of intimacy.
John is not making himself the exclusive owner of that title. John is
telling us that that disciple can be you and I.
Yes, Jesus loved John. But Jesus loves you as well. You, too, are a
beloved of Jesus. You, too, are a “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Remind
yourself of this often and it will draw you farther and farther away
from sin and closer and closer to Jesus’ embrace. Fr. Joel Jason
"Lord Jesus, in spite of my many faults, you know that I love You. Help my inconsistency. Lord, grant me the confidence to live a good life. Teach me to be more and more like You every day. Amen."
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