Aim for Perfection.

(Homily for February 19, 2017).

The saying is indeed true that mediocrity is the killer of genius but the struggle for perfection brings out the real star in you. This is so true especially when it comes to practicing the Christian life. Just like in the Beatitudes which we saw a few Sundays ago, wherein Jesus said: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,” Jesus is basically asking us today to stretch our limits; to show love to those who hurt us, those who persecute us, those who deprive us of our rights and those who make inconveniencing demands of us.

It is only natural that we save our love only for those who love us in return, it is only natural that we fight those who try to fight us, that we demand our rights and seek justice when offended or that we help only those from whom we stand to gain in the future but Jesus is saying that as Children of a perfect God, we must go beyond the natural, we must go beyond what is expected in the society and behave just like God. We must love those who hate us, refuse to fight back when given slap, and say nothing when offended.

What Jesus is demanding from us for perfection definitely sounds foolish to the world. How can I refuse to stand my ground when someone is oppressing me? How am I expected to keep quiet when I am slapped or forced against my will? How am I supposed to help you when you are of no benefit to me? It makes no sense at all. But this is exactly what St. Paul is talking about in the second reading when he said: “if anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.” To be perfect is to deliberately choose to be foolish according the standards of this world; it is reasoning like God who allows his sun and rain to shine and fall on both the good and the bad.

When the world talks about freedom to use your body according to your own pleasure, perfection demands that we recognise that our bodies do not belong to us but are the temples of the Holy Spirit. When the world talks about fighting for your rights (survival of the fittest), perfection as our first reading says demands striving for holiness, refusing to allow hatred build up in our hearts no matter what people have done to us in the past, refusing the urge to take vengeance against whatever hurt we have suffered, refusing to bear any grudge in our hearts or keep malice with those who have offended us.

So long as we still have enemies or people we have stopped talking to; people we are yet to forgive, so long as we are still planning how to retaliate past wrongs or take back what others have collected from us wrongfully, so long as we are not committed to bodily purity and still indulge in immorality, so long as we only greet those who are good to us, we are not yet perfect Christians. We may be church-going, we may be very active in the Church never missing mass, we may even be holding high positions in the church, we may even be the bishop or priest or senior pastor, as long as these things are in us, we are not yet perfect. Even for me as a priest, if someone offends me now and I stop greeting that person, it means I am no better than any other Christian sitting on the pew who only comes to church once a month.

I know what is in our minds now is to say: “it is not easy oh…” but this is a defeatist approach. Never assume perfection in the Christian life is not easy. Our attitude matters a lot. If we believe it is easy, then we can start working towards it every day and when we make mistakes, we don’t relapse back to our old ways, instead, we get back up, pick up the cross and continue to press on. Aim for perfection and never give up. Begin today by going to embrace that brother or sister or yours whom you have not greeted for the last one month or even one year. Pick up your phone and call that enemy of yours whose call you have sworn never to pick again since the last time you both quarrelled. Reply that text message. Give something to that man or woman who is begging from you even though he or she is totally useless to you. Say something nice to your neighbour today.

Just be good, yes do something good because of God. I have heard people say things like: “If not for God, I will not be helping you. If not for God, I would have slapped you right now and so on and so on.” Yes, do it because of God, do it because you expect God to treat you with that same kindness despite your faults. The Psalmist says: “It is he who forgives all your sins, who crowns you with mercy and compassion… he is slow to anger, he does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults….” Honestly, if God were to treat us the way we treat people, no one will still be alive in this world. Let us be holy as God is holy and be perfect as God is perfect. Treat people the way God treats you. Be slow to anger, overlook the faults of others, be compassionate and merciful, never repay one fault with another, forgive and let go, help people, help and do not hinder.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, increase my holiness. Amen.

Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A. Bible Study: Leviticus 19:1-2.17-18, 1^st Corinthians 3:16-23 and Matthew 5:38-48).

Fr. Abu.