Sermon of the Mount February 23, 2014 Homily Fr. Aelred

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

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(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.