O.T.VII:A: Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48

Yogi Berra once said: “You have got to be very careful if you do not know where you are going, because you might not get there.”

Way back in 1865, Lewis Carrol published a novel for children named Alice in Wonderland. In that novel we find Alice one day wandering around in a dream world. She stops and asks a cat: “Would you tell me, please which way I should go from here?” The cat replies: “That depends a good deal on where you want to be.” Alice said: “Oh, I don’t much care.” With that, the cat responds: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.”

We can be a lot like Alice, saying “Oh, it does not matter much to a whole lot of things. It doesn’t much matter which church you go to. It doesn’t much matter what you believe, and so forth. Pretty soon nothing much matters at all. Eventually, our lives do not matter, and we will be just like Alice drifting aimlessly into our own little wonderland going nowhere.

 Goals are important, otherwise, our living is aimless. Aiming at a goal is very necessary if we are going to have any sense at all concerning the path we are taking as we journey through life.

Jesus gives us a goal today: You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Well, nobody can be equal to God anyway. How can we, mere mortals be as perfect as God is perfect? What Jesus is saying is that we love completely as God loves completely. Be you mature and grown up as your heavenly Father is fully mature in his love and fully mature in the way He treats others. He loves completely, without boundaries. In Hebrew and Aramaic, the word “perfect” includes many nuances of meaning. These are, being kind, generous, merciful, good, and holy. These are all the things that God is for us – And what we must become, ourselves, in our own hearts and lives!

Through Moses, God told the Chosen People that they needed to become holy because He, the Lord their God, was holy. They could not keep hatred in their hearts. Even if they had to correct someone, they had to do it in a godly way. They were not to harbor grudges toward anyone – or seek vengeance for a wrong done to themselves!

 In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus spells out exactly the ways to grow in perfectness. Instead of fighting back with angry words or physical violence, we must remain calm and find a better way when someone hurts us. In those times, a backhanded slap on the right cheek was an insult. Turning and offering the other cheek was a way to shame the aggressor – It was a way to help them realize how wrong they were! Giving away their tunic and their cloak – and going the extra mile – were ways to avoid litigation and court costs. Jesus is telling them and us that settling differences amicably, was better than contention and lawsuits.

Jesus also said to “give” to those who ask of us – Also, to allow someone to “borrow” what they truly need. This doesn’t mean that we give to a “con man” – or enable a compulsive borrower! Perhaps, one of the most difficult commands of Jesus is that of loving our enemies.

Retaliation is the automatic human response. We can see it reflected in how people and even animals react to one another. The underlying implication is this: we must be able to defend ourselves. If someone comes towards us with violence, we must be ready to push back with non-violence because if we do not, the aggressor might get the upper hand, and we could be revealed as cowardly or weak.

St. Paul gives us another reason why we must become holy, with the perfection it includes. We are temples of God because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Moreover, this is also true of every person we meet!

Therefore, we must, absolutely, rid ourselves of all those things which are unholy – Because unholy things in our minds and hearts lead to unholy actions in our lives. Yes, this will always be a struggle – But God is always there with His, amazing, Grace! So, let us take heart – Let us pray that during this Lent, we become more like the godly son or daughter that God has created us to be. May we become holy – for the Lord, Our God, is holy! May we become perfect – just as our heavenly Father is perfect!