Weekly Wonderings

There's a lot to wonder about in life, and the longer you live, the more you wonder. I thought it would be interesting to wonder about the gospel passage read in many churches on the Sunday. I suppose it's mostly of interest to christians, but not only to them. All the great books of the world belong to everyone. I am not providing the text, so you will need to look it up in a bible. I think sometimes we feel we've heard it all before. It might help to wonder what it really means, where it comes from, where it's going to. I'm starting by putting a question to the text: what  are you saying? What are you on about? What on earth does this mean?

 

 

7th Sunday Ordinary Time Yr A

February 20, 2011

Reading I: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18


Responsorial Psalm: 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48

Link to the Readings



I wonder is this the day to put the focus on meditation and contemplation. The examples in the sermon on the mount are clear in themselves. They illustrate how the call to radical change involves going further, going to the end, or to 'no end',  But the heart of the message can be penetrated only in silent reflection, in contemplation in which we become one with the mystery: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy (Lev. 19:2). You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48).

I wonder why the gospel does not repeat Leviticus exactly. There are two changes:

Be holy, for [because] I, your God, am holy.

Be perfect just as [after the example of] your heavenly Father is perfect.

I wonder how significant this is. In Jewish thought when God is said to be holy it means he is separate from the profane world. In Leviticus the law of holiness for the Levites insisted on their being set apart because God is apart, separate from common things. God is The Other. 

I wonder did Jesus deliberately change this paradigm to move away from the Law of Holiness in Leviticus which was for the priests, and so to open it up to everyone.

Furthermore, by substituting ‘perfect’ for ‘holy’ is he attempting to bring the concept of holiness up to date for his time. The Greek word, teleios, when describing a thing, means it is 'perfect' [fully made, finished, without a flaw]. But when it is describing a person, it means that he or she is accomplished, complete as a human being.

You are to be perfect after the example of your heavenly Father. In the context of detailing the radical change in thinking and attitude, Jesus indicates that there are no half measures, no setting of limits, no pussy-footing. We are to be accomplished, complete; we must go the whole way, as our heavenly Father does. We have to go for broke.

Again, ‘just as’ means taking your lead from the Father, taking the Father as the example to follow. This is a far cry from the concept of ‘holy’ in which God is distant from the ordinary, humdrum common life that is so crudely called ‘profane’. Those who learn from Jesus and follow him in being complete, living complete lives, living fully - without frittering away their lives and without compromising themselves with half measures, are imitating God, Creator and Parent.

This sort of thing needs silent reflection, meditation leading into contemplation, into communion. One suggestion: you might take the phrase "Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect” as a mantra, but remember the context is in doing, in active love for others, and in living with integrity.

One final idea: I wonder what is the modern equivalent of ‘holy’ or ‘perfect’. What word or phrase would Jesus choose today to bring this key teaching up to date? Perhaps something like ‘do your very best’, 'put your heart into it', or 'give it your all', as a coach might say to an athlete. Those who have accomplished something in life know what this is about.

Put your heart into it,  as your Father does.
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If you would like to join a discussion on the above, you will find one on the website 'Catholica'