Be Holy

02-23-2020Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

The scripture readings give us a goal today. 1st reading tells: "Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy". 2nd reading asks us: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And in the gospel Jesus tells us: "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. All the readings point to one theme, "Universal call to Holiness".

To understand today's readings we have to understand what it means to be holy. When we think of holiness, we usually equate it with doing "religious stuff." So a person who says the rosary, comes to church on Sunday, follows the Ten Commandments, and tries to do God's will, is a person we would say is holy. But when we look at today's first reading from Leviticus, it becomes clear that this understanding of holiness is insufficient. God says to Moses,"Tell Israel they are to be holy as I, the Lord your God, am holy."

Now, how is God holy? God does not do religious stuff. God does not say the rosary, follow the Ten Commandments, or come to church on Sunday. In what sense, then, is God holy, and how are we to imitate God's holiness? The answer to this question is found in the Hebrew word for holiness. It means to be other, to be different, to be transcendent. God is clearly other, different from anything we have sensed or imagined. God is transcendent beyond our comprehension. So God is holy because God is different, transcendent, other. And we are to be holy by being different, by being other in the way we live.

The passage concludes with Jesus saying, "Be perfect, then, as your heavenly Father is perfect." On the face of it that sounds like a commandment which cannot possibly have anything to do with us. Indeed no one of us can even faintly connect ourselves with perfection. This obviously is an ideal, a goal to be aimed at. The perfection intended is not total perfection but rather to aim at that total impartiality of a God who extends his providential care and love equally to all. In the dry, scorching heat of the Middle East, all, good and bad, have to endure the burning sun and enjoy the gentle, cooling rain. God stretches out his caring love to all, good and bad, and he does not love the bad less than the good people. So, if we want to identify with Him, we have no right whatever to withdraw our love, that is, our desire for wholeness, from a single person. Whether a person returns our love or God's love is not important. If we reflect on it, we will begin to see that this is the only reasonable way for us to deal with people both for our own personal growth and fulfillment and as contributing also to that of others. Jesus is not asking us to do something impossible and unreasonable. He tells us to open our eyes and see the reality and discover the most sensible way of relating ourselves with the people around us. He tells us to realize the purpose for which we have been created, namely to be the children of God.

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