First Reading: Leviticus 19: 1 – 2, 17 – 18.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 16 – 23.
Gospel: Matthew 5: 38 – 48.
The universal call to holiness goes all the way back to the Old Testament. God’s people have always been called to be holy. Often holiness is identified with the manifestation of closeness to God and at the same time with suffering and pain accepted as the divine will. But holiness is a special call where we commit ourselves to live a life according to the divine plan or living a life as God would like us to live. In the Gospel of today Jesus continues his teaching on law. He tells us how the law must be understood in today’s context. He tells us that our attitudes and actions lead to imitate God who is merciful, kind and loving. He tells us that the law must lead us to live a life of holiness where we discover God in people, both our friends and enemies. It is easy to love those who love us, but Jesus asks us to do much more, to love our enemies. When he says to be perfect like the heavenly Father, he sets a high standard for us and he himself becomes the shining example of such holiness. In today’s Gospel we are presented with the most radical section of the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus tells his disciples how their righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. He presents once again the basic principle and its application, namely, our holiness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus begins in an area that seems rooted in human kind’s basic nature: violence and revenge. He recounts the oldest written law, the Law of the Talion, meaning such for such or tit for tat. The Gospel uses the phrase as written in the law, “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.” Jesus here proposes a quite different approach to the law. He abolishes the old law of limited vengeance and introduces the new spirit of non-resentment and of non-retaliation. He goes on to take three examples where the Christian spirit is in operation as he tells his disciples not to resist an evil doer. In the first example he says that if anyone strikes them on the right cheek, turn the other cheek also. As Jesus understands the law, it means turning the other cheek is not weakness. In his second example Jesus speaks about the tunic being taken away through a law suit. He tells the disciples that if anyone wants to sue them and take their coat, they ought to give their cloak as well. A generous Christian does not stand for his rights and he is willing to sacrifice everything. The third example of Jesus tells us of the second mile. The law of the second mile is a picture from an occupied territory. In an occupied country at that time the soldiers could force the citizens into service, as it happened to Simon of Cyrene who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. If the soldier from the Roman army forced them to walk with them one mile carrying their luggage, they should be generous to walk the longer distance than what is prescribed by the law.Jesus presents in his Sermon the basic principle of Christian Love. This is said to be the central section of the sermon which gives the concentrated expression of the Christian ethic of personal relations. Jesus tells his disciples that they must love their enemies. He places before them the expression of the old law which stated that they have to love their neighbour and hate the enemy. But the law that Jesus gives says that they must love their enemies and pray for those who are persecuting them. This is necessary to distinguish them from others and to recognise that they are the children of the Father in heaven. He himself shows the practice of the law in his life as he forgives them from the cross. Jesus prescribes his love beyond all human understanding to accept someone with benevolence and good will even when he insults or plants injury. Jesus laid down this command for us as a basis of personal relationships. It is not a concept of pacifism, but rather a call for universal brotherhood. Most important of all is that this commandment does not allow people to do what they like. However, the problem here is the understanding of the word ‘love’. He just wants to treat the evil one as a person, a child of God and not have the set of revenge planned on to him. ‘To love’ in the Gospel context means to ‘wish the well-being of’. It is a unilateral, unconditional desire for the deepest well-being of another person. It does not ask me ‘to be in love with’, to have warm feelings for someone who is doing me and others serious harm. But we can sincerely wish the well-being of those who harm or persecute us. We pray that they may change, not just for our sake but also for their own. The passage concludes with Jesus saying, “Be perfect, then, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” On the face of it that sounds like a commandment which cannot possibly have anything to do with us. Indeed no one of us can even faintly connect ourselves with perfection. This obviously is an ideal, a goal to be aimed at. The perfection intended is not total perfection but rather to aim at that total impartiality of a God who extends his providential care and love equally to all.
We need to have a forgiving heart: Jesus demands that we should forgive, pardon, and be generous whether or not our offenders deserve it, and even if we are not loved in return. He also tells us to pray for those who, it may seem wilfully, cause us suffering, hardship and unhappiness.
We are to try to be perfect, to be like God: We become perfect when we know God’s will and act accordingly. We can do so because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, and He dwells within us, empowering us to do God’s will. We become perfect when we try to love as God loves, to forgive as God forgives, and to show unconditional good will and universal benevolence as God does. All this we can do only with His ongoing Grace for which we need to ask, and then to receive and use.