BE PERFECT -- SOYEZ PARFAITS --

Once, to people gathered on the southern flank of a gentle slope rising from the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was teaching those who had followed Him from Capernaum...

43) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44) But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45) that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46) For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47) And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48) So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5; 43 - 48)

This teaching is the central reflection for this day around the Catholic world.  We Catholics have heard this so often that we don't think twice about it when we hear it again.  This morning was different.  When the young priest finally closed the book, he was chuckling to himself for all to see.  I can't quote him, but the equivalent of what he said is, "You gotta be kidding me!  That's just not natural.  Hey, a person can only take so much.  Enough already.  After all, human nature has its limits."

Then, short pause.  The young and inspired homilist resumes with great conviction, "Jesus came to lift us up above nature to offer us supernatural life."  Nature is not enough.  The Law is not enough.  When Jesus said that He had come to perfect the Law not to abolish it He announced the supernaturalization of the Law.  He announced that His coming was to change our way of life from obedience to the Law to the supernatural power of Virtue.  This supernatural nature that He came to plant in us makes it possible for us to love our neighbor (who is not yet our enemy), to pray for those who persecute us, and our neighbor too.  

As if all of that is already a bit much, Jesus nails it with the command that we "...Be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect."  Whoaa, there, Big Fella...are you serious?

Yes, He is serious.  The secret is in the striving.  The honest hard driving, dynamic focus on the Divine Presence in every minute of our natural lives.  The striving is the focus on the goal--Eternal Life in the Bosom of Abraham.  Everything that we do has to be done in the shadow and glimmer of the Pearly Gates.  We do that by centering on the fire of the Burning Bush, the fire of the Tongue of Pentecost and the weight of the Cross that we pick up every single morning as we walk through life with the sound of that command pounding in the depths of our soul, "Be perfect..." 

followed by the order, "Go forth, baptizing all people...."

We all rise to the invitation to lead loving, supernatural lives side by side with Him.  If we do it well, no one will cry at our funeral...Least of all, MINE.



Traduction:

43) "Vous avez entendu dire qu'il a été dit:" Tu aimeras ton prochain et déteste ton ennemi ". 44) Mais je te dis, aime tes ennemis, et prie pour ceux qui te persécutent, 45) afin que tu sois enfant de ton Père céleste, car il fait monter le soleil sur le mauvais et le bon, et fait tomber la pluie sur le juste et l'injuste. 46) Car si vous aimez ceux qui vous aiment, quelle récompense avez-vous? Les percepteurs ne font-ils pas la même chose? 47) Et si vous saluez seulement vos frères, qu'est-ce qui est si admirable à ce sujet? Les païens ne font-ils pas la même chose? 48) Soyez donc parfaits, tout comme votre Père céleste est parfait. (Matthieu 5; 43 à 48)

Cet enseignement est la réflexion centrale de ce jour autour du monde catholique. Nous, les catholiques, avons entendu cela si souvent que nous ne pensons pas deux fois quand nous l'entendons de nouveau. Ce matin était différent. Quand le jeune prêtre a finalement fermé le livre, il se mit à se rigoler devant tout le monde. Je ne peux pas le citer, mais l'équivalent de ce qu'il a dit est:  Ce n'est simplement pas naturel. Hé, une personne ne peut qu'en endurer jusqu’à un certain point, apres tout!  Assez déjà. Après tout, la nature humaine a ses limites. "

Ensuite, petite pause. L'homiliste, jeune et inspiré reprend avec grande conviction: "Jésus est venu nous élever au-dessus de la nature pour nous offrir une vie surnaturelle". La nature n'est pas suffisante. La loi ne suffit pas. Quand Jésus a dit qu'il était venu pour perfectionner la loi et non pas pour l'abolir, il a annoncé la "surnaturalisation" de la loi. Il a annoncé que sa venue devait changer notre mode de vie de l'obéissance à la loi au pouvoir surnaturel de la vertu. Cette nature surnaturelle qu'il est venu à planter en nous nous permet d'aimer notre prochain (qui n'est pas encore notre ennemi), de prier pour ceux qui nous persécutent et notre prochain.

Comme si tout cela était déjà une lourde charge, Jésus ajouta le dernier clou -- le commandement "... Soyez parfait comme notre Père céleste est parfait". Whoaa, là, Mon Pot ... est-ce que tu es sérieux?

Oui, il est sérieux. Le secret est dans l'effort. La conduite honnête et dure, le penchant dynamique sur la Présence Divine à chaque minute de notre vie naturelle. L'effort est l'astuce qui mène direct au but - La vie éternelle dans le sein d'Abraham. Tout ce que nous faisons doit être fait dans l'ombre et la lueur des Portes Celestes. Nous le faisons en nous concentrant sur le feu du Buisson Ardent, le feu de la Langue de Pentecôte et le poids de la Croix que nous ramassons chaque matinée et portons allègrement pendant que nous traversons la vie avec le son de cette commande battant au plus profond de notre Âme "Soyez parfait ..." qui est toujours suivi par "

Sortez, baptiser toutes les personnes ..."

Nous sommes inviter a mener une vie amoureuse et surnaturelle côte à côte avec Lui. Si nous le faisons bien, personne ne pleurera à nos funérailles ... et aux miennes, moins qu'a tous. 

43) "Oísteis que fue dicho." Ama a tu prójimo y odiarás a tu enemigo "44) Pero yo les digo: Amen a sus enemigos y oren por quienes los persiguen, 45) para que seas hijos de su Padre celestial, que hace salir el sol sobre malos y buenos, y hace caer la lluvia sobre justos e injustos. 46) porque si amáis a los que os aman, ¿qué recompensa recibirán? el colectores qué no hacen lo mismo? 47) Y si saludan solamente a sus hermanos, lo que es tan maravilloso al respecto? paganos qué no hacen lo mismo? 48) Sed, pues, vosotros perfectos, así como su Padre celestial es perfecto (Mateo 5; 43 a 48).

Esta enseñanza es la idea central de este día en todo el mundo católico. Nosotros, los católicos, hemos oído esta directiva tan a menudo que no pensamos dos veces cuando oimos le enesima repeticion.  Esta mañana era diferente. Cuando el cura joven finalmente cerró el libro, se echó a reír delante de todos. No puedo citar, pero el equivalente a lo que dijo es: Seguir este consejo no es en la naturaleza humana. Oye, una persona sólo puede soportar hasta cierto punto, después de todo! Ya es suficiente. Después de todo, la naturaleza humana tiene sus límites. "

Luego se debe romper las cadenas de la naturaleza humana.  "Jesús vino para levantar encima de la naturaleza para darnos una vida sobrenatural." La naturaleza no es suficiente. La ley no es suficiente. Cuando Jesús dijo que vino a perfeccionar la ley y no a abolirla, anunció la "supernaturalizacion" de la ley. Anunció que su llegada era para cambiar nuestro estilo de vida de obediencia a la ley en el poder sobrenatural de la virtud. Esta naturaleza sobrenatural que se trataba de sembrar en nosotros nos permite amar a nuestro prójimo (que no es nuestro enemigo), orar por los que nos persiguen y nuestros vecinos.

Como si todo esto ya era una carga, Jesús añadió la final de uñas - el ordeno "... Sed perfectos como nuestro Padre celestial es perfecto." Whoaa allí, mi cuate ... lo dices en serio?

Sí, es grave. El secreto está en el esfuerzo. El manejo honesto y duro, la dinámica, a la Presencia Divina cada minuto de nuestra vida natural. El esfuerzo es el chiste que conduce directamente a la meta - la vida eterna en el seno de Abraham. Todo lo que hacemos debe ser hecho en la sombra y la luz de las puertas Celestes. Hacemos esto por nosotros centrándose en el fuego de la zarza ardiente, el fuego de la lengua Pentecostal y el peso de la cruz que recogemos cada mañana y alegremente llevamos a medida que avanzamos por la vida con el sonido de este comando superando la obscuridad de nuestra alma "Sed perfectos ..." que siempre es seguido por "Ir, bautizar a todas las personas ..."


Te invitamos a vivir una vida sobrenatural y amorosa al lado de él. Si lo hacemos bien, nadie va a llorar en tus obsequios ... y a los míos, tanto menos.

VIRTUE -- WHAZZAT?

Last week ParishWorld.net ran a top story that was entitled, "Has the Notion of Sin Been Lost?" I looled at that headline and said to myself, "Sure, and why not? It should be lost, forever, and replaced with the notion of virtue." Sadly, both of these notions are on the endangered list. Sure we are surrounded by people who don't think that pre-marital sex is sinful; sure we are Surrounded by people who think that masturbation is not sinful; sure we are surrounded by people who think that euthanasia is not sinful and for sure we surrounded by people who think that lying is not sinful.

My attitude? So what? We are also surrounded by people who call in sick 20 days a year while they are perfectly healthy; we are surrounded by people who promise to get the job done by tomorrow, but they don't tell us tomorrow of which year; we are surrounded by people who are perpetually late for appointments; we are surrounded by people who come to church every
Sunday but who insult their fellow Christians in the parking lot; we are surrounded by people who say that they are Catholic but who don't educate their children in the faith, don't get them baptized and then make up all kinds of excuses for their negligence; we are surrounded by people who don't take care of their health because it takes too much time; we are surrounded by
volunteers who promise you one thing but then are not reliable enough to get it done. Do I need to continue? No, you get the point. We live in a world that not only is losing its sense of wrong, but its sense of right as well. The world we live in has no desire to replace the bad with the good. We live in a world that has no desire to understand that strong good habits (virtues in religioius speak) can actually keep us free from bad habits (vices, in religious speak). We live in a world that doesn't want to understand that prayer is better than sit-com TV. We live in a world where the leaders themselves do not repect the straight-talk truth. We live in a world where Catholic leaders prefer to negotiate the bottom line truth in order to accommodate Protestant friends. We live in a world where even Protestants try to cover up their core values by calling
themselves Christians. We live in a world where Muslims sell us the notion that Islam is a religion of peace and understanding while they murder Catholic bishops, priests and deacons because they refuse to stop practicing their Catholic religion in public.

It's OK to take polls and write articles about the decline in the notion of sin. Let's take a poll and write an article about why it is that the inhabitants of this planet have declined to the point where the reality of high expectations and the desire to achieve perfection have declined to the point where school teachers and even university professors feel comfortable in rewarding A+ to people. If A is the top grade, then everyone else would be less, right? Why are we diminishing the value of the A by making the top grade the oxymoronic A+? Oh, I forgot, we have to make little Johnny and little Janie feel good about getting an A even though their work doesn't really make it. It's like the teams who have losing records, you know, .390 or something like that, and still are included in the playoffs. It's like the employers who don't fire those who only report to work 200 days a year because they are "good employees". It's like giving every child in the league a certificate for good performance. It's like giving everybody a raise or a bonus, even those who are known in the board room as "Bozos".

Let me state this bluntly: This attitude of ours as a civilization is as deleterious to our existence and yes, to your eternal salvation as sin, the way we understand it, or think we understand it, will be. I hear it every day, "Jesus was kind; Jesus was merciful; Jesus was understanding." Yeah, OK. but go read Matthew 25 and get to the bottom line: Those of you who don't measure up are never going to have to worry about your heating bill again, for all eternity. You think that this is tough, what about this, "'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." (Revelation, chapter 3, verse 16)

I therefore urge you, Be Good! Be Virtuous! Stay Close to God! Stay Close to the Truth and don't negotiate it with anyone, not even yourself. I'm not afraid to tell you, negotiating the truth to water it down is the great sin of this century. We all have to learn to strive for perfection because God Himself orders us to do so. We are reminded of this by the Second Council of the Vatican. Our Christian life is a constant striving for improvement. We have to remember, an attitude of "it's good enough" is not going to get the job done over the long haul. Let's help one another to get it done and there will be not excuse, absolutely none, for us to cry at one another's funeral. Especially not mine!

If you do cry at my funeral, I will tell St. Peter on you.