Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
So, be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus utters a challenge that seems impossible. In our secular language perfection connotes no errors, perfect scores on tests, or a rarely attainable flawless achievement in Olympic gymnastics or figure skating. Aiming for a narrowly defined external performance can cause undue stress in athletes, students and myself alike, and take away the joy of the sport, learning and living life!
Jesus’ challenge to be perfect is at a different level - he is calling us to be perfect in how and who we love. He calls us to unconditional love of those who are most difficult to love - our enemies, the unjust. In today’s world I imagine Jesus is challenging us to love those we find annoying, who have different beliefs and practices from our own, members of different political parties (all who can be in our own families and communities).
How can we love perfectly? Only by the grace of God and our efforts to develop the muscle of love, through prayer and reflection. We are called to pray for those who disagree or are different from us. Prayer changes us, as it opens us to the love and way of God, the only One who is perfect! I find it helpful to reflect on how God, my Sisters and friends love me in my imperfections. Through that love, I’ve grown and changed over time. This awareness empowers me to offer that same love and compassion to others. And when it is tough to do so, I recall that love is a choice, not a feeling. I may not like others’ behaviors or beliefs, yet I can still love the person. Exercising the muscle of love when there is resistance, helps it become stronger.
We are called to be open to God’s transforming love, and then to be vessels of God’s compassion and love to others. When we fail in loving, we know we have a forgiving God who companions us. We can smile gently at ourselves and try again. I’ve been struck by athletes who describe losing the love of the sport because of the pressure and losing sight of the importance of balance and perspective. Similarly in our Christian lives, we are called to let go, and let God. Expressed in the beautiful Suscipe prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola - “Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me”. Perhaps the perfection we are called to will come easier if we accept our imperfections. Knowing that in our total reliance on God’s love and grace, we can add God’s apostrophe. As a child of our perfect God, seeking to love in difficult times, we can each say, “I’m perfect“.
—Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI