In today’s first reading the Lord commands the Israelites: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” This phrase is translated differently by Matthew and Luke in their respective Gospels:
Matthew: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (5:48).
Luke: “Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.” (6:36).
These different translations give us insight into the true meaning of holiness. To be holy means to be merciful or compassionate. To be perfect in the biblical sense does not mean to never make a mistake but to be compassionate and to hear the cry of the poor, “just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Jesus teaches the true meaning of holiness and perfection in today’s Gospel. Jesus teaches that the criterion of holiness is not how many prayers we have said or how many masses we have attended as important and as necessary as these are. Jesus tells us we will be judge on how we treat the least of God’s children, the poor, the hungry, the outcast, the immigrant: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Jesus identifies himself with the least.
Conversely condemnation will be on those who failed to hear the cry of the poor and oppressed:
“You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” (Matthew 25:41-43).
These are accused because they failed to recognize Jesus in the poor, the hungry, the naked, and the stranger. Jesus, like the prophet Hosea, before him, taught that love of God and love of neighbor are co-joined, you cannot have one without the other: “For I desire goodness, not sacrifice; Obedience to God, rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6). In a similar way John echoes Jesus’ teaching on the inseparable connection between love of God and love of neighbor.
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:20-21).
You and I are God’s holy people. We are also called to be holy, just as our heavenly Father is holy, that means to be merciful and compassionate. God calls us today to: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”
Image: “Rosselli, Sermon on the Mount” by f_snarfel is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.