ENMITY TO HOLINESS

We are in the seventh Sunday of the ordinary time. In the first reading which is taken from Leviticus, we here that God wants us to be holy, because He is holy (Lev. 19:2). When a child is born in this world, it is good because it is not aware of the evils in the society. It is innocent. The child becomes holy through baptism, with the washing of the original sin. St. Paul in his first letter to Corinthians affirms that we are made holy by Christ Jesus and have become a God’s temple where God’s spirit dwells (1Cor 3:16). As Christians we are not just called to lead a good moral life, rather a holy life. To live a life of holiness demands much from us. It is a call for perfection.

God, who is rich in mercy, forgives all our sins. He understands that we are weak and always in need of His compassionate heart during the moments of our fall. If He who is perfect and all knowledgeable is humbling himself to forgive us, who are we to hold grudge against our fellow brothers? We need to forgive others as God forgives us. When one is acting against us s/he is breaking the perfect harmony that exists between us. That harmony can only be restored or made perfect again only by forgiveness and humble acceptance. Vengeance, violence, and retaliation would further break and breach the perfect harmony. Jesus says in today’s Gospel that an eye for eye and tooth for tooth would not work. A wound can be healed only by mending the wound. A further disturbance to the wound would only increase the pain. Thus, violence for violence is not a solution.

Going a step further, Jesus says that it is not an act that makes person guilt or a sinner; it is an intention which precedes the act. Every action proceeds from the intention to do that particular action. So Jesus is not giving a law to stop or control our action as it was given to the people of Israel in early stages by Moses and the prophets. He is giving a guiding principle to orient our intentions. Jesus knew very well that creating a law is not solution to stop men from sinning. Creating a law would only make them sin more and increase the number of sinners. Jesus has not come to make us enemies by giving new laws. He has come to embrace us. He has come to restore the perfect harmony that existed between Man and God. He restored that perfect harmony by humble obedience to God and giving forgiveness to all our sins. We in turn are called be an instrument of that forgiveness. We are called to restore and keep the perfect harmony that exists between each one of us. At last, it is a call to move from enmity to friendship, enmity to harmony, enmity to holiness. We become holy by restoring the perfect harmony, because Jesus who is holy re-established the perfect harmony.