Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 16, 2019 - 1st Week of Lent - Sat
[Deut 26:16-19 and Matt 5:43-48]"For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So, be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." [Matthew]
Cardinal Newman once wrote, "To live is to change, and to change often is to become more perfect." The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew is one big challenge to change. The challenge is to change in the direction that Jesus indicates. To be perfect is to grow more in our efforts to live according to his teachings. When, as he does in today's gospel, Jesus challenges us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we discover how much we do have to change to meet that challenge!
One way that presents itself is to ask ourselves about our prejudices or biases for or against any kind of person or group of persons. I often hear in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, "I'm sorry, Father, but I just can't bring myself to love________! This really sets up a roadblock to growth in holiness, and it is a roadblock for which we will ultimately have to answer. Changing a prejudice is not easy. There may be years of cultural conditioning to overcome. Lent is a challenge to change. If all we have to show for it is a pound or two of weight lost because we "gave up" sweets or alcohol, we are no nearer to God than before. AMEN