Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am going to ask you to put your hands up as I ask you a few questions. How many of you think that you are perfect? How many of you think you are holy? This question is for couples? How many of you think that your spouse or partner is holy? This is for children. How many of you think that your parents are holy? Are they perfect? And here is the last question. What makes somebody holy? What do I expect to see in a holy person?
Before I go any further, let me clarify why we are taking about holiness. In the first reading, God says to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy” (Lev 19:17-18). In other words, holiness is an invitation from God. In the second reading the call to holiness comes in a more convincing question, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16) In the gospel reading, Jesus, continuing with the Sermon on the Mount, says to his disciples, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5: 48) In all these passages, holiness or perfection is not presented as an option. It is proposed as the very goal of Christian discipleship.
I would like to offer three practical implications on the theme of holiness.
1) Holiness is a positive virtue. Let me say that again: Holiness is a positive virtue. The reason I say this is because very often something very positive is understood very negatively. For example, when we pray for peace in Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic or peace in the world, what we actually mean is that that there may be an end to violence. But peace is much more than the absence of violence. Peace involves reconciliation, justice, freedom, and from the Christian perspective, spirituality and faith. Similarly, for the longest time, I thought of holiness as the absence of sin. For the longest time, I thought that I was having a good day if I did not do anything wrong. Later, I thought that if I said my morning and evening prayers each day and did not sin that, that was holiness. As I grew further in my spiritual life I recognized that holiness is more than just about morning and evening prayer and avoiding wrongdoing. The way scripture talks about holiness, it also means actively pursuing that which is true, just, and good. Holiness and perfection are about the character we develop and the kind of persons we become. Holiness is the pursuit for discipleship.
2) Holiness is an invitation. I want to go one step further in reflecting upon holiness. At least, in my life, it was not uncommon for me to think that my holiness comes from my actions. On a day that my daily prayer has been satisfactory or I did some good to another person, or on a day that I was fully present when I celebrated the Eucharist, I felt that I was holy. However, the more I thought that holiness was my action, the more self-righteousness and judgmental I became. Today’s scripture corrects that misconception. The source of holiness is not in us. As God says to the people of Israel, “Be holy, for I am holy!” In other words, holiness comes from the fact that God invites us to participate in God’s life. God is the source of our holiness. Our prayer does not make us holy; The God who we encounter in prayer makes us holy. Our piety does not make us holy; God who is the object of our piety makes us holy. Our being here at the Eucharist does not make us holy; it is the God who we encounter who makes us holy. If you suffer from self-righteousness or being judgmental, please remember that any holiness we have is not our work but God’s.
3) Holiness is about relationships. Let me bring both the above points together in this third point. Holiness would be very easy, if there was no one else on the face of the earth. If holiness was about praying and avoiding wrong doing then it would not be a life pursuit. Today’s readings connect holiness to relationships. Let me explain. First, the source of holiness is our relationship with God. When God says “Be holy, for I am holy!” it is an invitation to participate in God’s life. Surely then, prayer, reading the scriptures, worship, and piety are expressions of our relationship with God. However, in the same reading, the mood shifts very quickly to our relationship with others. The first reading that we have today is rather fragmented. Out of the twenty odd verses of Chapter 19 that we should be hearing, we hear only four. Many of the commandments that follow God’s command to Israel to be holy, are followed by commandments that center around respect, sincerity, justice, genuine concern and love for others. For example, God says, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you glean the stray ears of grain; you shall not pick your vineyard bare, nor gather up the grapes that have fallen. These things you shall leave for the poor and the alien.” Or again, “You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another.” And again, "You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind…. You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake.” (Lev 19:4-16) And then, we continue with today’s readings where God says, "You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev 19: 17-18) Of course, Jesus goes beyond these commandments in the gospel reading when he says, “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.” Even more radical is the command, “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father….” Once again, by suggesting that these are the ways in which we can be children of the heavenly Father, Jesus connects holiness with our relationship with others. And then there is our relationship with our own selves. Paul, in today’s second reading asks the question, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16), only affirms what I said earlier; that our holiness comes from God. On the other hand, Paul is also convincing us of the sanctity of every human person. As disciples, each one of us must be deeply aware about our own sanctity. By our baptism, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. At Every Eucharist, we invite our all holy God into our innermost being. To put Paul’s words differently, we do know that each of us is a temple of God. That is the source of our holiness.
Let us approach our all holy God with awe today. Let us allow God to touch us and make us holy. As we do so, let us be aware of the presence of God within us. And may our own sanctity lead us to share our holiness with others. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph