The Call to Perfection and the Mission of Love (Saturday, Lent 1)

-

Helmsmen (i.e. those who steer heavy vessels on the sea) will be in a better position to tell us the state of a ship that is disconnected from its rudder (a rudder is an underwater vane that controls the movement of the ship). That ship will continue to wander aimlessly at the middle of the sea, neither moving forward nor backward. So it is in our spiritual life: if we are disconnected from our main mission on earth (the mission of love), then we will run the risk of becoming stunted in our spiritual growth.


Deuteronomy 26:16-19 is so emphatic about keeping the commandments of the Lord. And what are these commandments? Jesus tells us that they are only two: LOVE OF GOD AND TO LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR (cf Mk. 12:20-31). On this, St John says that “whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar” (1 Jn. 4:20). In order words, there is only one commandment: TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOUR WITH OUR WHOLE HEART. In the responsorial psalm, the psalmist says that “blessed are those who walk in this commandment” (cf. Ps. 119:1b). Why are they blessed? Because in that way they will become a holy people to the Lord (cf. Deut. 26:19)!


Our true happiness, our lasting joy, our relevance, our completeness, our perfection are all dependent on how much we respond to this very commandment. It is not about how often I fast or tithe or pray, and so on.It is all about love: love of God, love of neighbour, friends and enemies as well. After Jesus had finished speaking about love, He added: YOU, THEREFORE, MUST BE PERFECT, AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT”. Our heavenly Father is Love itself. In other words, for us to be as perfect as He is, we must be perfect in love. Love must be primary in our lives. Every other thing is secondary, and all that we do or say should help us commit ourselves to the very mission of love. If we do not pay a rounded attention to this mission, we will remain stunted in our spiritual growth.   


Prayer:

Heavenly Father, may I be a striking image of You wherever I am and in whatever I do, Amen!


Have a fruitful Lenten journey!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more