“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48

Sofia did everything excellently. She graduated top of her class and won every competition, whether in sports or academics. But she never owned up to her distinctions. When people admire her by saying, “Oh you’re so gifted, Sofia!” she replies, “Oh no, that’s nothing. I won by chance, that’s all.”

       Our culture dictates that owning up to excellence is boastful, but in today’s readings, the Lord reminds us that excellence is our very nature as Christians. God made us in His image and likeness; therefore, we have the capacity to do good at all times. Let me say that again, “at all times.” We are not “just humans,” as we often justify when we sin. We are “the humans” that God loves above all His creations, and who are made capable of striving for perfection.

       Friend, you are more than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can. Never underestimate your God-like capabilities because you’re made perfectly for your purpose by a perfectly awesome God. Well, that’s definitely something to be proud of! Pia Angelica Suiza (piasuiza@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Are you sometimes ashamed to do what is right? Why?

Lord, grant me the confidence to live a good life. Teach me to be more and more like You every day. Amen.

St. Louise de Marillac, pray for us.

God has given us an outline of how to live a good and holy life. We may not be inspired by rules and regulations but whether we like it or not, they are essential to any group or society. Lawlessness will never be able to create a wholesome community. We need laws that call us to respect the legitimate rights of one another.

16 Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day the Lord, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. 18 And today the Lord is making this agreement with you, you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, 19 he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as he promised.”

1 Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (R) 4 You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. 5 Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes! (R) 7 I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I have learned your just ordinances. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. (R)

Jesus commands us to be perfect because His Father in heaven is perfect. This may not be so difficult for Him, but it is next to impossible for us. However, true faith will make us see this command as an encouragement to never give up in seeking holiness and obedience to God’s law and His will.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

43 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Genesis 7-9

Do you have days when you feel “far” from God? Perhaps you are weighed down by trials and tribulation. Perhaps you are struggling with a personal sin that makes you feel unworthy of God’s love. I have those days. When they come, don’t you feel jealous of others who seem to live in intimacy with God? This is why today’s Gospel is such a reassurance. Jesus reminds us of a God who “makes his sun rise on both the good and the bad, and gives rain to the just and unjust.”

       When those days come for me, I think of St. John, the writer of the fourth Gospel but also referred to simply as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” We know that it was John who leaned at Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper. We know, too, that among all the Apostles, it was only he who stood by the foot of the cross together with Mary and the other women. He was not only loved by Jesus. He lived his life loving Jesus in return.

       “The disciple whom Jesus loved” — what a unique designation, what an intimate title! I wonder if the other disciples felt a little jealous that only John is called the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” I know I am. How I wish I could also claim that appellation. But I believe this is what John the evangelist is telling all the readers of the Gospel. Even though we know it was John, John never identified himself by name in the Gospel he wrote. It was always the anonymous phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is telling us that everyone can be that “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is inviting every person who picks up the Bible to supply his own name in that title of intimacy. John is not making himself the exclusive owner of that title. John is telling us that that disciple can be you and I.

       Yes, Jesus loved John. But Jesus loves you as well. You, too, are a beloved of Jesus. You, too, are a “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Remind yourself of this often and it will draw you farther and farther away from sin and closer and closer to Jesus’ embrace. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Say this phrase repeatedly: “I am _______ whom Jesus loved.”

Lord Jesus, in spite of my many faults, you know that I love You. Help my inconsistency. Amen.