6th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Perfection is no Trifle

Some look upon the Ten Commandments as ghostly whispers of a dead age; some dislike them. Yet it is for the benefit of man that God made the Laws. We come to worship God not because he is the greatest celebrity of all, but because he is the greatest good. How can this God make laws which are bad for us? God’s love for us is made practical by his laws. Hence his laws last longer than those who break them. Those who go on breaking them will pay for it. They may not pay weekly, but they will pay for it at the end. In a sense, no one can break the laws of God; we can only break ourselves against them. Thus, ‘’Before man are life and death; whichever he chooses will be given him’’ (Sirach 15:17). Those who obey the law live; otherwise they die. Because God’s laws are an expression of his friendship and of his concern for his people, Jesus proclaimed (Mt 5:17) that he had come not to abolish the laws but to fulfill them.
            Jesus fulfilled all of God’s laws when he sacrificed his very life on the cross for love of God and the human race, a love that sums up all laws and perfects them. In so doing, he called us his followers also to seek as he did a deeper and inner kind of holiness, rather than the mere external observance of the laws. This means that not only crimes of violence like murder are forbidden but also harboring of any anger, which is the root cause of murder; not only the act of adultery must be shunned, but even lustful thoughts which are the seeds from which plants of adultery grow. Likewise, not only false oaths must be avoided but also any dishonest motive behind our words (Mt 5:21-37). By this new teaching, Jesus is challenging us to become as holy as God our Father is holy. Our Church is charged with the grandeur of a holy God; that is why we light candles and incense the altar. We who come to worship this holy God are not all holy because we use holy water, but by seeking on the other six days of the week the inner holiness of our hearts and minds. In each action, therefore, we must look beyond the action to find whether we are holy within as God is.
            Is it possible to become as holy and as perfect as God is? Many would probably place such perfection in the realm of fantasy. Yet, it is better to strive for this ideal and fall short than never to have tried at all. Besides, we are not left to struggle towards perfection all by ourselves. Through Christ we have received ‘’God’s wisdom, a mysterious, hidden wisdom, which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, but planned by God before all ages for our glory’’ (1Cor 2:7). What is this wisdom? It is the spiritual eye that can see the effects of God’s love and saving power working in us through Christ’s redemption. We are called to use it. A blind man slowly turned around the corner of a street feeling his way with his white cane. A young man coming from the opposite direction dashed round and collided with him. ‘’Why don’t you look where you’re going?’’ barked the hurried young man. The blind man gently replied, ‘’Why don’t you go where you are looking?’’ Many times, we fail to use the ‘wisdom eye’ given to us by God.
            God did not make us perfect, nor can we suddenly become perfect as God is. We are pilgrims after perfection moving little by little towards it. Therefore you are becoming perfect when you show a little more patience towards those with whom you have to live, even though their company may not be congenial to you; a little more firmness to continue the work which duty demands but is repellent to you; a little more humility to remain at the post to which God has led you, though not fitting with your talents; a little more common sense to take people as they are; a little more strength to endure an event which disturbs your peace; a  little more cheerfulness so as not to show you are hurt; a little more unselfishness to understand the thoughts and feelings of others; and a little more prayerfulness to draw God to your heart. These may be trifles, but trifles make perfection though perfection is no trifle.