Tuesday of the
Eleventh Week in Ordinary time
(II Corinthians 8:1-9; Matthew 5:43-48)
A long time ago a protégé of Reinhold Niebuhr commented
on the difference between him and the great twentieth-century American
theologian. He said that where Niebuhr strove
for perfection, he just wanted “to be a little bit better.” The statement indicates the faulty human
condition at the heart of today’s gospel passage. It also helps clarify what Jesus means by
“perfection.”
Jesus reverses the wisdom of the ages when he tells his
followers that they must love their enemies.
They may not hate them, but pride makes them want to appear as better
than all rivals. Jesus demands that
such competition cease. He deems
perfection not in achieving “all A’s” or in besting all opponents but in loving
those who would do one harm. This kind
of love, he says, makes one truly like God, the Father.
We should not underestimate the great challenge in loving
one who would do us wrong. Achieving perfect
grades or a perfect score might be a neurotic pursuit, but loving an enemy is
no easy task. It takes prayer as much as
effort. We pray for the spirit to makes
us so meek that our predominant goal is always to please our heavenly Father.
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