Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 - Tuesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 21:17-29 and Matt 5:43-48]"So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." [Matthew]
The challenge to "perfection" for a disciple comes at the end of the challenge to "love your enemy!" God's love includes those whom we may consider "enemies." This teaching sets Christianity apart from much of the world's religious belief. In the Gospel According to Luke, in the parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:29-37], a scribe asks what is included in the word "neighbor" when considering "love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replies with a story that touches on the antipathy between Jew and Samaritan! If we know our biases, we know some of our "enemies."
Included in "enemy" may indeed be ourselves! The famous cartoon character, Pogo Possum, is quoted as saying, "We have met the enemy and they is US!" We can be our own worst enemy.
The Greek word translated as "perfect" is teleios, meaning "whole" or "complete." God's love is indiscriminate. Jesus prays from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." [Luke 23:34]. If we wish to be disciples and to imitate Christ, we must do the same. I often tell penitents in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to pray for the person that they mention as a target of unkindness or as an "enemy." The Sermon on the Mount is a textbook of discipleship. How well do we "shape up" as we read it? AMEN