Sinner's Path to Saintly Life
The readings for this Sunday are very challenging, knowing our weakness and frailty as human beings. Nevertheless, the second reading gives us encouragement to see the goodness within us. As St. Paul instructed the Corinthians, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy." As God made us in the image and likeness of God, we are reminded that there is goodness and holiness within us because we came from God. Let us reflect on the themes of devotion, perfection, and reflection in light of our readings this Sunday.
The first theme is devotion. St. Francis De Sales defines devotion as "a spiritual activity and liveliness by means of which Divine Love works in us and causes us to work briskly and lovingly; and just as charity leads us to a general practice of all God’s Commandments, so devotion leads us to practice them readily and diligently." The divine love that works in us has been imprinted in our souls since the beginning, and this cannot be taken out by anyone. This is the one that leads us to follow God’s will, in which love consists. This devotion is what the gospel told us to do, which is to do justice and do what we owe to others.
The second theme is perfection. There are two senses of perfection: for the Greek, perfection means righteousness, and for the Hebrew, it means fidelity. This is where we got confused when Jesus proclaimed, "Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." When the true meaning of perfection is that of Greek, then we cannot do what Jesus commanded us to do. Hence, we dwell on what Jesus means by perfection, which is to hold on to Him whenever we stumble. In this context, we love our enemies, for we are children of God, and so we must imitate our Father. Like father, like son. Love the way God loves you. This is what perfection means: imitation.
The third theme is reflection. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we came from the Heavenly Father, who created us, breathed on us, and gave us life. As St. Paul taught us that we are the temple and the body of the Holy Spirit, we are being reminded that Christ is working through us; our hands, eyes, and feet are Christ’s. Let the reflection of God in us continue to flow and be shared with others as we continue to journey as Christians, for this is what we are to be—a reflection of Christ to the world.
Thus, through Christian charity, we are able to do what we owe others, which is justice. Underneath the commandments, just as underneath the natural moral law, is justice: everyone giving everyone what is due. Jesus is saying that when it comes to other human beings, we owe everyone perfect justice. Where there is justice, there is peace, and where there is peace, there is love. This is the formula for our path as sinners to a saintly life. Let us love one another, to love where we have withheld love.
