7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Vinner)
JESUS MY REDEEMER PRAISED BE HIS HOLY NAME
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
Today, the liturgy of the word invites us ‘Be Perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is Perfect.’ It is a great motto of Jesus and those who are following Him also do the same otherwise we are not called his disciples. In the Biblical sense number SEVEN is considered to be a perfect or completeness or the wholeness. In our ordinary life we often seek for perfection either in our duties or work or any kind of sports but Jesus is expecting from us more than that and we, the baptized Christians; follow the commandment of God and we access our lives according to God’s word.
The first reading of today gives similar points, ‘Be Holy for I the Lord, your God, Am Holy.’ It is very much connected to the perfectness that Jesus spoke about. Moses called the elected people of Israel for the perfect holiness and what God was expected from the people Israel. We, the baptized Christians cling to the heirs of Abraham and we have an every right to get all the promises which bestowed on Israel. In order to possess these promises we need to do something and we must do things that are pleasing to God our Father then only we can possess God’s promises. In this regard we fail often and we lose the Blessing from God. What we have to do is to Be Perfect, just as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect. St. Paul says one of his letters that when the perfectness comes then the imperfectness goes out of us.
We are called to Be Holy and called to Be Perfect. These are terms that can cause all kinds of scrupulosity and rigidness in some people, so we must make sure that we understand these words. Holiness is simply living for God in every aspect of our lives. Perfection is not in doing everything perfectly, but in loving others in God as we love God Himself. We shall never be without our imperfections at the level of doing, but in the level of loving, the more we let God’s love go through us to others, the more wonderful it is.
In the First Letter to the Corinthians St. Paul says that we are called to live as temples of the Lord, and that the Spirit of God dwells in us. Our heart should be Holy and Perfect so that He can dwell in us. It is really clear that all that is good in us comes from the Lord. If we are to be wise, it can only be as God is wise. If we are to boast, it can only be about what God has done in us, in others and in our world. Let us give thanks to God today that we have been given the gift of faith. Let us ask that our faith may be lively and draw us deeper and deeper into the mysteries of God. Let us become radical in our living and gentle in our loving and may the Loving God pours out his blessing among us.
Life messages:
1) 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 willfully cause us suffering, hardship and unhappiness.
2) We are to try to be perfect, to be like God: We become perfect when we fulfil God’s purpose in creating us, i.e., when we become God like by cooperating with His grace. 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.
May God Bless you
Fr.S.Vinner HGN