Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

A life of holiness is patterned after the holiness of God. It requires integrity,  honesty, and faithfulness. To be holy as God is holy, we must refrain from nursing  hatred in our hearts; we must rebuke wrongdoers or we will share their guilt; we  must not entertain vengeance; and we must love others as we love ourselves.  These very demanding directives give us a glimpse into the holiness of God.  Furthermore, they are all communal in nature. In other words, our likeness to God  is determined by the way we relate to others.  

For Paul, the temple is the collection of people who gather in God’s name. Just  as the presence of God made the Jerusalem temple holy, so the Spirit’s presence  in the people makes this new temple holy. Paul returns to an earlier discussion  about the wisdom of this world (see last Sunday’s second reading). As valuable  as human insight might be, it is nothing compared with God’s wisdom. Boasting  refers to the false pride that the Corinthians took in identifying with various religious leaders. Such boasting is evidence of the wisdom of the world, a wisdom  that threatened the unity of the Corinthian community.  

Jesus addresses the way that disciples are to interact in any strained relationships. He instructs his disciples to offer no resistance when someone tries to take  advantage of them. He employs Near Eastern exaggeration to make his point. The  disciples are told to disarm others with their willingness to go beyond what is  required of them. Jesus then reinterprets the law of love in a most radical manner,  telling his disciples that they must love their enemies. He insists that the disciples’ love must be patterned after God’s love, which is given unquestioningly  to the just and the unjust alike. The final exhortation succinctly sets the standard  for life in the kingdom of heaven. “[B]e perfect, just as your heavenly Father is  perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It is this standard that makes Jesus’ interpretation of the  law so radical. 

Living the Word logo

Copyright © 2021, 2020, 2019, 2012, 2011, 2010 World Library Publications, a div. of GIA Publications, Inc. www.giamusic.com
All rights reserved. Used by permission.