CYCLE A 7TH ORDINARY
Lev. 19, 1-2, 17-18 1 Cor. 3 16-23 and Mt. 5: 38-48
Q: Do you want to be HOLY? Do you want to be PERFECT?
We say: WHY should I, WHAT does that mean and is it EASY to do?
While in the Catechism of the church, it says: “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity”…that call to Holiness we believe was first given to the Israelites in the time of Moses. God had taken them out of slavery in Egypt and journeyed with them in the desert and led them to the promised land. This made them His special people. And with that status came a LAW from God, by which they were called to live a Holy life.
HERE IS WHY I WOULD WANT TO BE HOLY.
The whole of the book of Leveticus was an expansion of that law given by God on Mt. Sinai to Moses in the Book of Exodus. So really, all the laws contained in these books served to TEACH the Israelites that they should ALWAYS keep themselves in a state of LEGAL PURITY or EXTERNAL SANCTITY, as a sign of their intimate union with the Lord. Accordingly, the central idea of Leviticus that comes through our first reading today, is its oft-repeated injunction: “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, BECAUSE I, THE LORD, AM HOLY”.
Breaking that injunction apart, the portion saying ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY’, was given to all the present and future people of Israel; because THROUGH them, and FROM them would one day COME the ONE who would make all men “HOLY”. In the meantime they were to keep the knowledge of the true God alive on earth and make themselves as worthy as possible for this greatest of honors, which would be the INCARNATION of Jesus.
And then when God said, “BECAUSE I, THE LORD, AM HOLY”, it was to remind Israel that while all nations and peoples of the time had their local and national gods, those peoples and their gods, were NEITHER HOLY nor could they ENCOURAGE HOLINESS for they were gods made into man’s likeness. They were to understand, Yahweh was the true God of holiness itself.
So for the next 1200 years the Israelites strove to imitate God’s HOLINESS and GOODNESS through living His laws.
HERE IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HOLY.
In the Gospel we see the Holy one of God, ‘who will make all men Holy’, had arrived. And in similar fashion where God gave the law on Mt. Sinai; we hear Jesus give His LAW REVIEW in His Sermon on the Mount. Telling all, that far from doing away with the law, given by God to Moses in the Old Testament, His words will explain the fullness and purpose that God originally had intended for that law, that they were now, NOT living. But if they would NOW follow His teaching, they would fulfill the Mosaic command “To be holy as I am Holy” and the Christian equivalent of “Be Perfect as your heavenly Father is Perfect.” So on the Mount today, Jesus starts to explain SOME of the laws and what that INNERMOST meaning of God’s plan is.
So what was Jesus asking us to do, as compared to what the Law given to Moses allowed the people to do. The DIFFERENCE, as you will hear, is OUR step to the ‘Holiness’ and “Perfect Charity’ that the New Testament and catechism calls us to live. BECAUSE of Christ, we are HELD to a higher standard of HOLINESS as God’s People.
The Gospel starts with Jesus taking the Mosaic Law of (Lv. 24:19) where it said: “Anyone who inflicts an injury on his neighbor shall receive the same in return. Limb for Limb, eye or eye and tooth for tooth!” It sounds very harsh to us today, and we may wonder how God could permit it. But we must understand that it was a restriction on the practices of that primitive society. So “God’s LAW” actually prevented man’s vindictiveness —the injured could inflict only an injury equal to the one suffered.
But then came the ‘CHRISTIAN DIFFERENCE’. Jesus with His authoritative explanation, abrogated ANY permission for revenge. He said, “But what I say to you is, Do Not resist…evil”. So Jesus and now the Christian must forgive those who injure him and not retaliate even in the restricted form of the old Mosaic Law. Even in self-defense, which is permitted to save one’s life, one CANNOT go as far as taking the unjust aggressor’s life.
In another point of law, our Lord in teaching further the perfection in being Christian says. “If one strikes you on your right CHEEK, turn to him your other one as well”. Jesus is saying in the fullness of God’s law that, when ONE WHO COULD retaliate refuses to do so and submits instead to further injury, his example of PERFECT Christian FOR- BERANCE will move his unjust aggressor to shame and repentance. In this way, we MIGHT turn an enemy into a brother.
In the case of “…in giving your COAT…give your CLOAK as well”, Jesus is referring to people being legally persecuted. In other words, a poor man who cannot pay some debt and has his COAT or ordinary daily dress confiscated, should not only yield it up willingly but should offer his CLOAK (the outer garment protecting him from rain and cold by day and was his covering at night) as well. In this way, only a very hard-hearted creditor would fail to be moved by such a gesture. But the point of the counsel is for the Christian to give an example of PERFECT RESIGNATION and DETACHMENT from any animosity toward those who can legally hurt us.
IS IT EASY TO DO?
When we examine carefully what the DIFFERENCE was in each case, it can be summed up in that we who are called to be HOLY or PERFECT, must go against the very fiber of our being or leanings of society to get there. We must ‘CARRY A CROSS’. And this sometimes cannot be easy and why many people DO NOT strive for Holiness or Perfection.
Today’s lesson only dwelt on a few ‘CROSSES’ that we must endure in life on our way to PERFECTION. We must all pay attention to the teachings of Christ and His church for the rest. But today start with the Question: Do you want to be Holy…do you want to be Perfect? I hope that even the slightest desire to be Holy or Perfect , be joined with the grace of the Holy Spirit within us. Let the journey to Perfection Begin.
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