23 February 2020 - as your heavenly Father is perfect

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

In baptism the Spirit of God comes to live in us. His presence within us is strengthened in confirmation. The fact of his dwelling within both calls us to holiness and gives us the grace we need to walk in holiness.

“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

Those without faith cannot please God (see Hebrews 11:6) because it is by faith working in love that the Holy Spirits manifests his fruits in our lives. Faith makes it possible to learn from God how to love our enemies. The perfection to which he guides us is no arbitrary thing. It is a call to perfect union with himself, the source of holiness.

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The LORD is asking us to approach his call to be us to be perfect with faith. The presence of God within is the place from which we begin. It is the identity we already have but which we must live out to fulfill God's plan for our lives. Often we forget who we are in Christ and try to figure things out from the perspective of our own wisdom. But this is not recommended. On our own we fail and fall short.

God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.

Teach us that we are so united to you, LORD Jesus, that we can love even those who challenge us, who don't appeal to us, who are set against us, just as you first loved us.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.