God doesn't need us to be picture-perfect
Lent 2020 - Day 11
Readings: Deut 26, 16-19; Ps 118, 1-8; Mt 5, 43-48
“Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” is certainly a most curious and challenging mandate. What ‘perfection’ does Our Lord require of us, and why, when we are naturally flawed and will perhaps remain so?
But then, weren’t man and woman originally ‘perfect’, made in God’s image and likeness… until Original Sin spoiled the show?! Down the line, Moses urged the Jews to keep the law and justify the title of ‘Chosen Race’.
Whereas that relationship sounds ceremonial and self-seeking, Jesus, the new and greater Moses, not only proposes a filial relationship with God, He requires that this be reflected in our association with our fellow beings too. Thus, He perfects the old law, mandating that we love and pray even for those who regard themselves as our enemies….
Not to worry – God doesn’t demand that we be picture-perfect! He looks straight at our hearts moving continually to overcome our natural flaws, desirous of restoring things to their pristine state – in His image and likeness! Perfection is not that curious after all if we live each moment in God’s grace. And the search for perfection is less of a challenge when we are still and know that He is God – for in truth it is God who wins all our battles for us.
