• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Online Masses
    • Passionist Online Masses and Services
  • 300th Jubilee
    • Opening Mass of the Passionist Jubilee Year
    • Video: 300th Jubilee – English
    • Video: Jubileo Pasionista – Español
    • Jubilee Icon Itinerary
    • Jubilee Resources
    • Jubilee Song
  • Pray
    • Lent 2021
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Magazine
      • Passionist Magazine, Spring 2020
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Vision Fulfillment Newsletters
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination to the Diaconate
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
      • Reunions
      • 2019 Passionist Alumni Reunion
      • Welcome
      • Letter from the Provincial
        • These Men We Call Our Brothers
      • Mission Statement
      • CrossRoads Bulletin
      • Alumni Enrollment Form
        • Alumni Survey
      • Reunion Photo Gallery
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, June 19, 2012

Scripture:

1 Kings 21:17-29
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

One evening, the Community of Passionist Partners of San Antonio gathered to celebrate a Mass at Casa Pasionista Guadalupe, our residence here in San Antonio. Our theme for that Mass was forgiveness. Our custom is to share our experiences in light of our faith during the homily time. I don’t remember the Gospel we used for that Mass, but I do remember one of the reflections given at that Mass. In a hushed voice, someone in our group told us about the day his father was murdered a long time ago in another country. He comes from a large family. They lived on a ranch. After the shock wore off, the mother called the family together and made them promise on their father’s blood that they would not seek revenge. It was then, he said, that he began to understand the challenge of the commandment so clearly stated by Jesus in today’s Gospel, "You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father." A few lines later, Jesus continues: "So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that the perfection that Jesus is talking about is doing things perfectly. But Jesus says: "Be perfect" and not "Do things perfectly". Being perfect is about loving our neighbors and our enemies, forgiving those who wrong us, accepting the gestures of reconciliation when offered to us, among other things. As we know, this passage comes at the end of the "Sermon on the Mount" which begins with the Beatitudes. This sermon is about changing our way of life. It is about conversion. It is about becoming a new person in the image of our Loving God. So, Jesus was not talking about perfection as doing things perfectly. Rather Jesus was saying that being perfect is being like God, a God who is loving, compassionate, just, merciful, forgiving.

Our behavior needs to flow from a new understanding of who God is, from a heart that is filled with love for God and for the other no matter how rude and mean they are and from a commitment to doing whatever it takes to be faithful, in good times and in bad, whether we are alone or with others.

We become perfect when we acknowledge that it is impossible to be perfect on our own. But with God, everything is possible. This is the moment that we realize God is asking us to live a mystery: Being perfect is really about being dependent upon God.

The vast majority of us have not had to face a violent past. But we all have had to face times in our lives when we had to choose between anger and composure, vengeance and forgiveness, retribution or reconciliation. It is faith in a God who loves, a God who forgives, a God who is compassionate, a God of mercy that allows us to become perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Fr. Clemente Barron, C.P. is a member of the General Council of the Passionist Congregation and is stationed in Rome. 

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2021 | Log in