19 February 2023 – 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

As we prepare ourselves for Lent, and as we prepare our hearts to enter into this journey, the reading on this 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time invites us to reflect on this theme of holiness. And this theme of holiness is what each and everyone of us need to acknowledge because we are set apart, we are called to be holy because God is holy.

In the First Reading from the book of Leviticus, it reminds us that Moses was speaking to the whole of the community of the sons of Israel and he said:-

Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.

And this invitation, dear friends, is not only given to individuals but the whole community of Israel. And that is our calling, that is what we are called to do.

And holiness, dear friends, does not only reflect with sacrificial systems but it is something that we grow in relationship with. It concerns of how we live our life as Christians. Because as Christians, the love of God draws us to be perfect in His love.

And holiness, dear friends, is to be set apart. To be set apart because God and sin cannot go together. There is a distinction between holiness and secular, between God and sin, between God and humanity.

And because of this separations, dear friends, it is not God who wants to distance Himself, it is because we are unable to enter into the presence of God because we are only His creatures.

And as Jesus invites us to enter into the same path that He has taken. You know because of the separation, because of the immense love the Father has for us, He comes into our sinful situation and lead us back to the Father. And that is where, dear friends, Jesus bridges the gap between God, the Creator and we, His creatures.

And for our candidates today, I am sure God in His own way has allowed that stirring in your heart, that invitation in your heart and the restlessness in your heart to draw towards Himself. And that drawing to that holiness, dear friends, is not because we are unworthy. We may feel unworthy but it is driven by the love that the Father has for you.

And the path that He has given to you is the path that Jesus has taken. In your own conversion, in your own journey of life, somehow or rather the stirring in your hearts moves you to seek this God who is holy because He is that distant other who leads you to Himself. And that is how God has showed His love for you, in the same way that He has shown each and everyone of us in our community.

And because of the love that the Father has for you, dear friends, in how He has expressed His love and mercy for you, you too are called to be reflection of that holiness towards one another. And how do we reflect that holiness of God?

How do we reflect the love of God? It is by fitting each other in love, by carrying for the needy, by caring for those who are in need, by sharing with the poor and not with vengeance, not with grudges, not with anger.

And that is an invitation that He gives us. Perhaps we may be angry with God, we may be angry with people but God has used His love to express that love that He has for us through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ comes into our sinful situation.

In our communities, dear friends, each and everyone of us are broken in some way or the other. But God, just as He has given that invitation to all these candidates here, you and I are called to do the same. It gives us the opportunity to testify towards His love, of how He has loved us, of how He has allowed that grace and that holiness of God to pervade in our lives.

Love, dear friends, is not a show that we put for others. It is not like taking a camera and taking those photographs for others to see. But it must be rooted in genuine love for one another. And if it is not because of that genuine love for one another, then we are not only agents of division, but we also break communities.

But as we look at these candidates today, we are called and invited to reflect on the goodness of God, on this holiness of God because this love of God, dear friends, the holiness of God is expressed in His love. In the way that God expressed His love for them, He has also expressed His love for you and I. And together, we can build this community of love. Together we can care for one another in ensuring that we seek each other and respond in love genuinely for their own growth, for their own sake.

In the Second Reading of the letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Saint Paul speaks to this community who is so divided. One will say “I am for Paul”, “I am for Apollos”, one “I am for Cephas”, but Saint Paul acknowledges that all these are divisions that breaks that community. And he says:-

The present and the future, are all your servants, but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

All of us, dear friends, belong to Christ and Christ belongs to the Church. And as a community, we come to restore this temple of God by our love for one another. The temple of our lives need to be purified, need to be cleansed.

And as we purify this temple of our hearts, we also need to purify the temple of our community. And if we are able to allow the temple of our community to be restored by love, and the perfection of love that God has given to us in the way He has expressed His love through Jesus Christ, then we are able to lead others back to God and rebuild, restore and renew that temple.

And I am sure, dear friends, in this journey that we take towards building community, it is not one which is easy. And the Gospel today invites us and tells us of what we need to do. The Gospel invites us to seek ourselves as Christians, as godly people, because we set apart for the purposes of God. For godly purpose that we are able to build His community. And invites us not to rely on human wisdom but the wisdom that comes from God.

If you look at the equality that we have in today’s Gospel:-

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

these practices are given to curb violence and not to encourage violence. Sometimes what is required is only an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But sometimes when we are angry, when we want to seek revenge, we want to have two eyes instead. Perhaps we want to hurt people more than how they have hurt us. And because of those situations, dear friends, we again are called to restore unity, to preserve unity in our community.

And as we look at how Jesus gives this story, when one hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well. And this, dear friends, it is a reminder that when we are confronted with obstacles and situations of life, when we hit one person on the cheek.

Usually at the time of Jesus they use the back of their palms to hit people, and this is only reserved for slaves, for people who are not their equal. But Jesus says, when you are confronted with situations as such, stand your ground and offer the other cheek as well. Because when we hit, at the time of Jews, it is hit a person with an equal dignity.

So it is not something which we silently suffer because of the oppressions that we are in but to stand our ground and to say that we would not tolerate injustices, we would not tolerate people putting us down but we are standing up for what is right. And Jesus invites those who are victims per se to stand up their ground and to raise their bar in order to respond in love.

And I am sure, dear friends, in our community, in our families, there can be many situations as such. That we want to hurt others more than we have been hurt. But Jesus is asking us to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Because when we are able to transcend beyond our actions to that perfection of love that God has given to us, then we are reflecting that love, the perfection of God in our lives.

I am sure it will not be an easy task. It is not easy but the grace of God allows us to do the same, dear friends. It may be impossible but with God’s grace, it is possible.

And there are many, many stories that we have heard. People who have been affected. Even like Saint John Paul II when he was shot. What he did was go back to the prison and seek reconciliation with the person that shot him. And that is only one example. And I am sure that there are many, many examples as well which we find the difficulty, the impossibility to forgive.

But the Lord invites us to raise the bar and to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect and to show others with love and compassion.

Let us ask, dear friends, what are the areas of our lives that we need to reflect the holiness of God. What are the areas of our lives that we have broken that relationship, that has soured that relationship, that is making us feel angry, having grudges and be vindictive?

We ask the Lord to heal us from our brokenness and to strive toward His holiness that He calls us into. Just as Jesus calls each one of us to enter into that sinful situation and to lead us back to the Father, you and I are called to be agents of unity, agents of love, that we too can reflect that love of God to one another.

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