• Login
    View Item 
    •   CDR Home
    • Mission and Ministry
    • Daily Reflections Archive
    • View Item
    •   CDR Home
    • Mission and Ministry
    • Daily Reflections Archive
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Reflection for Tuesday, June 18, 2013: 11th week in Ordinary Time.

    View/Open
    061813.html (6.571Kb)
    Author
    Bannantine, Tom, S.J.
    Date
    2013-06-18
    Office/Affiliation
    College of Nursing; Chaplain

    Reading 1
    2 Corinthians 8:1-9

    Psalm
    Psalms 146:2, 5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a

    Gospel
    Matthew 5:43-48

    Lectionary Number
    366. Year I, Ordinary Time.

    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Browse: Previous Reflection * Next Reflection

    Reflection:

    To see the original html page, click the file link on the left.

    The gospel reading for today is summed up in the last sentence: Jesus exhorts his listeners to be perfect. The use of the word perfect made me think of some of the ways in which we use this word in our daily lives. We sometimes speak of a perfect day, a day in which everything turns out well for us. Or a day on which the weather is ideal. We sometimes use the term in the entertainment world when we say that the musical performance was perfect or the work of the actors on stage and screen was perfect. In the world of sports we refer to a perfect game in baseball. And in soccer and hockey we laud the work of the goal tender when that defender refuses to allow the opposing team to score.

    Jesus is not using the word perfect in that sense. By speaking of the heavenly Father as perfect he is referring to the divine ideal. Our faith teaches us that God is perfect in every way. Such perfection is difficult for our human minds to grasp since we have no frame of reference for such a concept. Nothing here on earth is perfect in the way that God is perfect. And so in today's gospel Jesus is telling us to use the perfection of God as an ideal to which we aspire. In effect we are to imitate the perfection of God as best we can in our human condition.

    When I think of trying to be perfect my thoughts turn to the saints. They have given us a powerful example of striving for the perfection of which Jesus speaks. But there is some irony here also. Some of the saints about whom I have read felt that they were not making much progress in the search for perfection. Indeed some of them felt that they were among the worst of sinners. I think that such a perception of themselves reveals the difficulty of really striving for perfection. The saints came to realize how far we are from the perfection of God. But what gives me hope and what should inspire us all is that the saints never stopped their efforts to imitate the divine perfection. The words of Jesus in today's gospel are addressed to all of us. He exhorts us to follow the example of the saints and strive to be perfect as best we can.
    Link
    Go to the Daily Reflection web site

    Persistant link to this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/10504/50709
    Context
    View the Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer (Archived Version)

    Browse
    Previous Reflection * Next Reflection

    Collections
    • Daily Reflections Archive

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of the CDRCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV