Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Brent Bowen  |  02/19/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

I remember the first time I read the Bible from cover to cover. I found Genesis and Exodus enthralling. There were lots of interesting stories and the narrative was easy to follow. Then I began reading the Book of Leviticus, the book from which today’s first reading is taken. Suddenly I found myself somewhat lost in paragraph after paragraph of laws and prescriptions about the sacrifices prescribed by God, cleanliness, and a lot of other rules that seemed obscure and completely disconnected from my own life, making it very difficult to follow.

Then I got to chapter 19, part of which we hear at Mass today. In verses 1–2, we hear, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.’” This, my friends, is the most important part of this chapter because it is the reason behind all of the law of Moses. God, whose essence consists in supreme holiness, has chosen this people to be peculiarly his own. He has freed them from their captivity in Egypt, and is now leading them through the desert into the promised land. Along the way, he instructs his holy people on how to be in relationship with an all-holy God and with one another. When we read the story of the Old Testament, it can be easy to get caught up in the details of the law, losing sight of this great truth: the reason God calls His people to observe these laws is because He is holy, and He desires them to have a share in His holiness.

Whenever he teaches, Jesus, who is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, uses the same pedagogy. He teaches us to observe, not only the commandments that were once taught to the Jewish people so that we can share in His holiness. He also teaches us to go beyond the letter of those laws and arrive at the heart of the matter: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus desires us to grow in the perfection of love in our hearts, that love which we received on the day of our Baptism when we became God’s beloved daughters and sons.

Many times, when we hear his command to “be perfect,” in our minds and hearts we actually hear, “be a perfectionist.” I have seen many people struggle with this misperception. It is one that can ultimately lead to anxiety since, as human beings, we still deal with the effects of the Fall. Perfectionism is, at its root, reliance solely upon oneself. We give in to a false belief that we have to do everything correctly in order to be lovable. Many people find that even when they do things correctly, their accomplishments are never “good enough.”

When Jesus calls us to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect,” he is inviting us to place our trust in God, rather than ourselves. Just as God gave the Jewish people the law so they could share in His holiness, He who is the source of our perfection desires to share His divine life with us. He who calls us to perfection also gives us every grace we need to grow in holiness.

This is especially important in our dealings with others. Both teachings that we receive from Jesus today have to do with love of neighbor: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.” Likewise, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Let’s be honest: if we try to rely solely on ourselves to observe these commandments, we will inevitably fail. But God, the source of goodness, holiness, and perfection, delights in giving us the grace to realize that which is impossible.

In your dealings with others this week, pay close attention to those people with whom you struggle the most. Perhaps God is giving you opportunities to grow in love. You need only to ask him for patience and trust to treat others with the same love and concern that God gives to each of us.