Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary

Lectionary: 440

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

The injunction, as we hear it in Saint Luke's version -- "Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful" -- sounds more palatable than Saint Matthew's, "Be perfect...." It's certainly preferred by preachers and teachers of our time. 

Perfect has a pretty precise definition in many people's minds, especially as we watch Olympic divers and gymnast strive for that "perfect ten." "Good enough," which is in fact far better than anything I could have ever achieved in my wildest ambitions, is not good enough for the judges. They want Perfection. 

But that unattainable ideal was used against us long before the Olympics were televised. Little girls were supposed to be perfect like the Virgin Mary, and First Communicants should be perfectly worthy to receive their first, second, and last Holy Communion. 

Faithful, it seems, is not faithful if it's not perfect. One doesn't practice one's faith because practice implies the possibility of not getting it right the first time and every subsequent time.

And it soon becomes obvious that no one can be perfect -- and certainly not this author -- so I should not receive Communion, or attend Mass, or say a prayer if I am not sure that I will "sin no more,: and will always and forever "avoid the near occasion of sin."

So how about merciful? I think I can do that; it's imaginable and perhaps doable. 

But I suspect that Luke never intended to soften  the Lord's command with a more palatable word. He and Matthew and the Lord were thinking the same thought: we should be holy as the Lord our God is holy. 

That holiness is a presence without pretense. It is an assurance that the Lord is near with his care, concern, and sponsorship. His hand is upon my shoulder, and "His eye is on the sparrow I know he watches over me.

This awareness governs my decisions, attitudes, and thoughts. Practicing faith, I learn to choose even my thoughts carefully. There are things I need not say; I can let opportunities for mischief pass and be grateful about it later. There are avenues I need not explore, and others more desirable I might pursue. 

We can all agree that the World needs to know the Lord. We can as easily agree that he wants to be present through us, and with us, and in us.