Perfectionism—I thought this was what the above Bible verse meant. Little did I know that such mindset and standard wasn’t part of the Christian ideal nor did it even support mental health.

Perfectionism is an irrational behavior that simply requires oneself and others to be, well, “perfect.” Needless to say, it’s a lost cause, as no one can measure up to perfection. Perfectionism, therefore, is considered a neurotic symptom since it indicates the absence of flexibility in one’s dealings with self and others.

In a way, perfectionism is the opposite of the verse above. The Lord calls us to be perfect in the way our Father in heaven is perfect—that is, to be perfect in loving.

The Lord has commanded: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This doesn’t only talk about the quality of love we give our neighbor, but moreso, expands the concept of self to include the other. Therefore, to love one’s neighbor is to love one’s self. This is perfection.

Do you measure up to it? Jonathan Yogawin (coachj@jyogawin.com)

reflect

How have you been judgmental? How can you love better?

Lord, teach me to love as You love. Amen.

St. Alice, pray for us.

I am not a fan of forced or prescribed tithing. I believe it is better to instill in people the responsibility for the work of the Church and the care of Her ministers, and then teach them about generous giving. This way, those who are rich can give more for the Kingdom of God.

¹ We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, ⁴ they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones, ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, ⁶ so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also. ⁷ Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. ⁸ I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. ⁹ For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 146:2, 5-6, 6-7, 8-9

R: Praise the Lord, my soul!

² Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. (R) ⁵ Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, ⁶ who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. (R) Who keeps faith forever, ⁷ secures justice for the oppressed, gives good to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (R) ⁸ The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord raises up those that were bowed down; the Lord loves the just. ⁹ The Lord protects strangers. (R)

Gospel | Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus commands us to love our enemies. This tells us about the nature of love that the world needs to learn anew—love is a decision and does not depend on feelings. Let us decide to love everyone we meet. This is a command of the Gospel and the nature of love. If we do not love others, how can we commit to proclaim the Gospel to them?

Gospel Acclamation

I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.

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 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! Read 1 KINGS 21 - 22 today.

The final line of today’s Gospel is “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How realistic is this exhortation? Is it really possible to attain such a goal?

People who seriously take the call to live morally upright lives seem to be in the minority now. When one talks to young people and one examines the media for evidence of a call to be committed to a set of values for a lifetime, it is difficult to find anything. Relativism is the underlying philosophy of today’s generation.

It means there are no hard and fast moral rules applicable across all peoples and cultures. Everything is dependent on cultural conditioning, religious beliefs, and so on. Relativism cannot be logically defended as it is not a consistent ethic. If rules change to accommodate the culture of a group of people, it does not make sense to speak of any law, rule, or program of morality that is applicable to all. Such a reality will produce chaos as there is no universal value system upheld by all. We see this challenge when people discuss the morality of abortion. Depending on one’s position on the issue, they ascribe different values to the various stages of life of a human person. The only consistent ethic is the one where all life is considered to be inviolable from conception on. (This is the position of the Catholic Church.)

It is important that humanity has a universal set of values to uphold across national and cultural borders. If we cannot agree on such, then we will never be able to agree on the individual moral questions that arise in life.

The suggestion in today’s Gospel that perfection is a goal of the moral life is a reminder to us that there is a universal set of values applicable to all and we should work hard to discover them—and live by them each day of our lives. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

reflection questions

How well-informed are you on the teachings of the Catholic Church on moral matters? Do you need to do any study in this area?

Holy Spirit, open my mind to the truth of the Gospel and the Church’s teachings on moral matters so I may live them to the full. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ___________________________