DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Leviticus
19,1-2.17-18; 1 Cor 3,16-23; Matt 5,38-48: 7 Sunday of Year A)
The
Liturgy of the Word today begins with the exhortation from the book of
Leviticus (first reading), Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy and concludes
with Jesus words to his disciples in the
Gospel, You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
We are, therefore, reminded of the fundamental duty of the Christian, of
his/her essential vocation, which is, to be holy. The Constitution of the
Church of the 2nd Vatican Council has one of the chapters titled: Universal Call to Sanctity. This
implies that all the baptized are called to sanctity: priests, religious men
and women, lay people, married and unmarried, young and old. Every one must get
himself or herself genuinely involved in living out this call to holiness in
the specific circumstances of one’s vocation in life. Sanctity here, does not
mean the capability of performing exceptional and extraordinary feats, the type
of holiness that is accompanied by miracles and clamorous deeds. The holiness
meant here is the type, which today’s opening prayer hopes and prays for, that
we may be granted the grace and capability to carry out in both word and deed
that which confirms to the will of God. The kernel of this type of holiness;
living according to the will of God, doing the will of God, is the fruit of the
reflective and contemplative study of the Scriptures as well as the teaching of
the Church and docile obedience to a well formed conscience. This holiness is
possible to all, indeed it is obligatory to pursue it in our various states of
life. As a priest, I should live my priestly life according to the will of God
every day of my life; you, a married man or woman, you a son or daughter must fulfill
the will of God in your family life. You, a young person must realize in your
youth the plans of God about you as you seek to adapt your life to suit God’s
plan of love. In the same way, you in your work and profession must try to behave
yourself in ways pleasing to God, in all honesty and seriousness of purpose.
We
should not lose sight of this fundamental duty to sanctify ourselves and should
work seriously to accomplish it, lest we succumb into a gloomy Christian
living, and resign ourselves to our usual vices, defects and weaknesses. This
will lead us to go on and on without the slightest progress in our spiritual
life. We need to pray assiduously to the Lord for the grace to liberate
ourselves from our defects and weaknesses and for the grace to fulfil our daily
duties, be they small or big, without compromising to selfishness or to the spirit of the world.
Christian holiness substantially, as we well know, is no more than
Christian charity and consists in showing love. This love is to to be seen in
its double dimensions: vertical and horizontal, love towards God and to neighbor.
Holiness means loving God perfectly and always and corollary, loving our
neighbours. Our love of neighbour is as a consequence of our love of God. In
the gospel of today, Jesus indicates to us what love towards neighbour consists
of and to what extent we have to love our neighbour. We can show love to our
neighbor by refraining from revenging evil with evil, or paying wickedness with
wickedness, violence with violence, but to conquer evil with good deeds and to
respond to evil with magnanimity/generosity. On the other hand to love God
positively means wishing every one well, without discrimination towards any
one, having goodwill even towards those who are hostile to us and who have
inflicted injury to us. Jesus holds: Love your enemy, pray for those who
persecute you. This is really the summit of Christian perfection. This is
proposed to all Christians and not only to some. Jesus, in fact said: ... if
you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit?... and if
you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional?
Even pagans do as much, do they not? If one wishes to be the son/daughter of
God, the Father, he/she has to love, the good and evil persons, just like the
Father in heaven who causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his
rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. We cannot call ourselves
Christians, or hold that we are seriously aspiring to Christian perfection, if
we do not make effort to love all and especially those who do not love us and
who hurt us. It may seem impossible, but with the grace of God it is possible.
The saints have shown that it is possible. Christ, by his example, has led us
in this way of loving. May we, then, pray in the Eucharist of this Sunday that
Christ who showed us his love by dying on the cross for us may also grant us
the grace to love as he did by offering our lives in love for our neighbours.
+John I.
Okoye
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