23/02/2014
7th Sunday (A)
So be perfect, just
as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt. 5:48
Homily; Fr. Aelred
(1)Today’s
Gospel from St. Matthew continues with me the Sermon of the Mount. In the
centre of the Sermon of the Mount stands the Lord’s Prayer in whose centre
again the petition for the coming of the Kingdom
(2)
Jesus contemporaries knew that God’s kingly rule is eternal and stretches out
over the wide world. Although God’s sovereignty is fully acknowledged only in Israel,
the near day is near when God will break into history to manifest Himself as
the ruler of all, to free his people from bondage, and to subject all nations
to his holy will. The prophets had announced a coming Kingdom of God, but Jesus
brought the Kingdom of God
…..
(6)Today’s passage concludes with the
command ‘You must be perfect’ just as ‘your heavenly Father ‘is perfect’. The
word ‘perfect here does not denote a moral or other perfection which we are not
really capable of. Seen in the light of its OT background it means rather ‘whole-hearted
in, sincere, undivided. As in Deuteronomy says, ‘You shall be whole-hearted in
your service of the Lord your God’. It is related to the ‘pure of heart who
shall see God’ of the Beatitudes, denoting consistency as well as total
commitment and generosity. It is not an optional ‘counsel’ for those who
already keep the commandments, but a must for those who want to enter the
kingdom.
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