DO WANT TO BECOME PERFECT LIKE GOD? LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. (Homily for June 14, 2016. Tuesday of the 11th week Ordinary Time.)


Bible Study:  1 Kings 21, 17 to 29 and Matthew 5, 43 to 48.


Jesus concludes our Gospel passage this morning by saying: “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Perfection is something that is written in the DNA of every human being. Having being created by a perfect God, there is an inherent desire and drive within each of us for perfection.

Whatever we do, we want to be the best in it. That is why we are never satisfied whenever we see someone who has more than we do or is able to do what we are unable to do. It is because of this drive for perfection that the word “competition” exist in the dictionary. Being humans, we tend to use other as a yardstick to measure our progress and we believe we attain perfection only when we are far ahead of others.

The world is what it is today because of the desire for perfection. Just look at the latest technological gadgets around us today, it is like the market is never tired of receiving new products. You buy a brand new car thinking you have bought the most beautiful machine ever to emerge on the planet only for that same company to release a higher model only few months after. Your new car suddenly becomes old and you are told of its limitations. Compare the Nokia 3310 of those days with the Samsung S7 of today!!! When it comes to finding perfection, humanity is never tired. There is just no end in sight.

The good news for us Christians is that when it comes to the practice of the faith, Jesus Christ has defined what perfection is. This is a stage of spirituality very easy to come by yet so rare and so very few persons on this planet have achieved it. To become perfect is to reach a point when you are able to love every single human being on earth equally regardless of what they do to you, regardless of whether or not they love you back, regardless of whether or not they consider you as an enemy. To be a perfect Christian is to forgive quickly and completely not minding the gravity of what people do to you.

Imagine how King Ahab in the first reading connived with Jezebel to deprive Naboth of both his dear life and his beloved vineyard. Yet, just because Ahab rent his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, God quickly forgive him. Only God can forgive like that and only a human being who has become God (in terms of being perfect) can forgive and love like that.

To love your enemies is as good as saying you should never have enemies! To love those who do not hide their hatred from you and seek for ways to destroy you is not easy. To pray for the good of those who hurt you badly does not come by easily. How many of our crusades, prayer sessions and warfare proclamations are targeted at our enemies but real and imagined? It has even gotten to the extent people are told to shoot and kill inside the church. You hear how people shout “Die, Die, Die” while praying calling “Holy Ghost Fire” to BURN AND CONSUME. They even back up their prayers with bible verses such as Exodus 22, verse 18 which states: “Suffer not a witch to live.”

As much as it is not a crime to pray for the destruction of evil in our midst, we must realize that every human being is made in God’s image and likeness regardless of his or behavior and character. If we must hate at all, it is not the human being we should hate but the evil itself. We can love the sinner even while we crucify the sin. So the next time you get into warfare prayers, do not pray for the death of your fellow human beings who do bad bad things, instead pray for their deliverance from being under the influence of Satan.

There were witches and wizards in Jesus’ own time, there was none that he killed, instead he freed them from demonic influence and some of those who were freed became his personal assistants. They became so close to him that one of them, Mary Magdalene was even falsely accused of being his wife. This is to tell you how God is so perfect when it comes to loving those who ordinarily should be his enemies and he wants us to emulate this perfection. Be perfect today. Love and forgive like God.

Let us Pray:
O God, strength of those who hope in you, help us with your grace to serve you despite our mortal frailty and teach us to love others despite their mortal frailties as well. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. 

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