Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
HOLINESS: LOVE NOT VENGEANCE
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
Today’s readings present us with the theme of Holiness. We are called to be “Holy as the heavenly Father is Holy”. Holiness is an act of love, compassion and forgiveness rather than a display of religiosity. One who is holy does not hate neither does he bear grudges. One who is holy may appear foolish and weak in this age but in truth he is wise. Using the examples of Christ’s teaching on revenge and love the gospel gives us the rules of the Holy life.
Do not revenge: Jesus said to his disciples “you have heard how it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil” (Matt. 5:38-39). Jesus the perfecter of the law moves from the old law of vengeance to a spirit of non-retaliation. A holy man does not take to revenge. Throughout Christ’s suffering and passion he did not take to violence. As the Chief Judge (John5:22) he could have ordered deadly penalty; but he forgave his murders (Luke 23:34). In John 18:10 Peter slashed off the ear of Malchus; but Jesus said to him Peter sheath your sword. No doubt we have right to self defense but Jesus says sheath your sword. David had the opportunity to kill Saul but he submitted to God’s command to forego vengeance. In the name of self defense many are already street fighters. It is good to protect our right but let’s not take to violence and vandalization of properties. The recent outburst in Benin and other places because of cash scarcity is evil. Our real self defense should be self control, self discipline and self education.
Love your enemies: The first reading says “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord” (Lev.19:18). Similarly, Jesus says in the gospel “I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt.5:44). If we must live a holy life we must strive to love. This love is a necessary condition for holiness. Don’t waste your time on revenge, love has the power to bring about radical transformation. The love we are talking about is not just a psychological love but a spiritual attitude of concern which reflects God’s unconditional love for us.
LET US PRAY
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry out in both word and deed that which is pleasing to you. AMEN.
Fr. Paul Oredipe
Perfection, Holiness and Mercy
“Be Holy, For I, the Lord, Your God, Am Holy”
The Scripture readings for today issue three calls to us – to be holy as the Lord our God is holy; to not deceive ourselves with the wisdom of this age; and to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Today’s gospel passage continues our reading from Christ’s great sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, the format of today’s teaching is exactly the same as last week, where our Lord quotes from the old law, the law of God as revealed through Moses, by saying, “You have heard that it was said that you must” act in a certain way, and then going on to expound his new teaching on the same point by saying, “But what I say to you is this: …”
He starts with what the people already knew, and then takes them further. Jesus had summed up His attitude to the Old Law, the Law of Moses, by saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it” or to perfect it. And so we can think of these teachings as taking us beyond the commandments of the Old Law and showing to us the perfection of the Old Law in Christ’s teachings.
God is the Holy One and the Creator of human life, and the human being is blessed and obliged by God’s utter holiness. Therefore every human life is holy, sacrosanct and inviolable. According to Leviticus 19:2 God’s holiness constitutes an essential imperative for the moral behavior: “You shall be holy for I am Holy, the Lord your God!” This loaded statement describes best the vocation of every man and woman, and the entire mission of the Church throughout history: a call to holiness.
And today we have two such points, two such perfections; both are concerned with our behaviour towards others, especially those with whom we have a quarrel. In the first one, we have the well-known maxim of the Old Law, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ This can seem rather barbaric to us, because we often forget what prevailed before it. We should remember that when God gave this law to the people of Israel, a common principle governing their behaviour was that of vengeance. This led to interminable strife and countless crimes.
In the early centuries of the chosen people, the people of Israel, after this law was revealed to them, it was seen to be a great advance, socially and legally, on what had gone before. The law limited the retaliation which was allowed by law: for no punishment could exceed the crime; punitive retaliation was outlawed. In this way, the honour of the clans and families was satisfied, and endless feuds avoided.
But as far as the new covenant instituted and here taught by Jesus was concerned, there was now a further advance: a sense of forgiveness and an absence of pride play an essential role. So now, every legal framework for combating evil in the world, every reasonable defence of personal rights, should be based on this new morality.
Our Lord then gives examples of this principle in action: if someone does wrong to us, or someone imposes some task on us, we must go beyond their demands, go beyond mere justice; we must do more, we are to show generosity and, above all, charity.
The second point which Christ teaches, using the same framework: “You have heard it was said … but I say to you” is that it is easy to be kind, generous, charitable, forgiving to those we like, who deal honorably and charitably with us; but what we as Christians must do is to show charity towards those who are not our friends, those he even refers to as ‘our enemies.’ In fact, it is quite clear that we should have no personal enemies. Our only enemy is the evil which is sin; but not the sinner.
Jesus himself put this into practice throughout His life, even up to and including those who crucified Him, and He continues to act in the same way today towards sinners who despise Him and rebel against Him. We have many examples from the lives of the saints of their following this teaching from our Lord to a heroic degree; we can think of the very first martyr, St Stephen, who prayed for those who were putting him to death. This is the summit of Christian perfection – to love and even pray for those who are persecuting us.
It is the distinguishing mark of the children of God: people will know we are Christians by our love. And we have in the beatitudes, from earlier in this same sermon of Christ, the promise of a reward: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
And Our Lord closes His teaching with a general summary and exhortation for us: “You, therefore, must be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are created in the image and likeness of God; and of course, it is impossible for us mere creatures to be as perfect as God who created us. What our Lord means here is that God’s perfection should be the model which every Christian tries to follow, even though we realise that there is an infinite distance between us and our Maker. We have His Holy Spirit given to us in Baptism.
Here and now, we can find holiness in our personal experience of putting forth our best efforts in the work place, patiently raising our children, and building good relationships at home, at school and at work. If we make all of these things a part of our loving response to God, we are on the path of holiness.
In today’s second reading (1 Corinthians 3:16-23), St. Paul, in continuing his reproach of the Corinthians for their contentions (1-4), reminds the community that the Churches of Christ ought to be kept pure, and humble (16:17). To have a high opinion of our own wisdom, is but to flatter ourselves; and self-flattery is the next step to self-deceit. People are deceived who deem themselves the temples to be temples of the Holy Spirit yet are unconcerned about personal holiness, or the peace and purity of the Church.
St Paul reminds us of that presence of the Holy Spirit within us, and of the fact that that should change us, should change the way we behave.
In the first reading, God speaks to the people of Israel through Moses, the Lawgiver; He says, “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” The whole Jewish concept of holiness was based on the idea of separation: we keep ourselves like God by separating ourselves from sin and setting ourselves apart from what would corrupt us, would make us unclean, setting ourselves apart for him. The words of Leviticus (19:2) come alive in the saints and blessed of our Catholic tradition. These countless men and women throughout our tradition are the true “revolutionaries of holiness”
In that way, we make ourselves more like God. And Christ perfects that teaching of Moses also, through giving us his presence, His perfection to help us, to make us more like God. Just as small children look to their parents for an example, and for help to strive towards that example, so we must look to our heavenly Father. “For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son”: His love should be our model and our goal, and in His love He sent His Son to teach us what we must do. And the perfect love which the Father and the Son have for each other, the Holy Spirit, present in each one of us, will bring us to the perfection to which we are all called.
As we reflect on today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 5:38-48), Jesus in no way teaches us to be passive in the face of physical danger. Jesus teaches that violence can breed violence. And if nonresistance will shame our opponent into peace, then such is the better course.
Jesus teaches the ultimate step in the process of bringing to perfection, that in which all the others find their dynamic center: “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, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (5:43-45). In opposition to the common interpretation of the old law which identified the neighbor with the Israelite, and indeed with the pious Israelite, Jesus set out the authentic interpretation of God’s commandment. He added to it the religious dimension of reference to the clement and merciful heavenly Father who does good to all and is therefore the supreme exemplar of universal love.
Jesus concluded, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48). He asked of his followers the perfection of love. Love is the synthesis of the new law he brought. This love will enable us to overcome in our relations with others the classical opposition of friend-enemy. It will tend from within hearts to transform into corresponding forms of social, political and even institutionalized solidarity.
To be perfect in holiness means to believe in Love, expanding our hearts so that they will accept God. We need not wait for the heroic moments to love without limits, to return good for evil, and to pray for our enemies. We can do it this very day, within the four walls of our home, our work, or our school; in those tiny moments when our heart forgives and forgets, when we build fraternal bonds with our neighbors because we are moved by the thought of Christ crucified, dying for his enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And St. Paul also invites us: “Overcome evil with good.” Amen.
Let us open ourselves to God’s love. Ultimately, holiness, even if it is our response to God, is a gift from God. We must open ourselves to Him in faith and receive His love.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
