To be honest, there is a certain way of interpreting the readings for today as God telling humanity exactly that, “Do it, because I said so!” I imagine that’s not the first time or the last time we’ve felt that. Often we seem to receive God’s commands as having no other justification than that they come from him. For example, God tells Moses that he commands, “Do not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart;” “take no revenge and cherish no grudge against anyone;” “love your neighbor as yourself”. What is his reason? “I am the Lord your God.”
Jesus in the Gospel makes more demands: “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well; if anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well; give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” And perhaps most challenging?: “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” What is Jesus’s reason: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
All of these and more are difficult commands. They might even seem a little unreasonable, being that they are the opposite of what we often want to do naturally. Perhaps – looking at the commandments of God – we even feel like children being told by a divine parent, “Do it, because I said so!”, with little good reason other than that.
The reality though is very different. Think for a moment about when you’ve been in the position of a parent, a teacher, a babysitter who is faced with dealing with a difficult child. You know that there’s not really much use in trying to reason with a misbehaving kid. You can’t explain why their behavior is not ultimately in their best interest. All you can do is tell them, “Do it, because I said so.”
The amazing thing, of course, is that (usually) that’s reason enough. The child seems to understand innately that we really do have their best interest at heart, and thus, “because I said so” is sufficient. Later he or she comes to understand that whatever we were telling them to do really was correct. They realize that things like “Go and clean your room,” “Brush your teeth,” and even more drastic things like, “Don’t play in the street,” and “Don’t touch the hot stove,” are not just our whims in the moment but really are for their own good. So too are the commands of God not just his arbitrary demands; they are always ordered to our highest good.
Friends, when we hear Jesus tell us to “Love your enemy” and “Turn the other cheek,” his words might seem impossible, even foolish. But remember that the wisdom of God is not the wisdom of this world. God never commands us to do something that he does not also give us the grace to fulfill. With our highest good at heart, God empowers us with his Holy Spirit to live as another Jesus in the world. As we approach the altar in this Mass, may we prepare our hearts to do as God commands, so that we might learn to love as he loves, and that we might be holy, perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus in the Gospel makes more demands: “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well; if anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well; give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” And perhaps most challenging?: “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” What is Jesus’s reason: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
All of these and more are difficult commands. They might even seem a little unreasonable, being that they are the opposite of what we often want to do naturally. Perhaps – looking at the commandments of God – we even feel like children being told by a divine parent, “Do it, because I said so!”, with little good reason other than that.
The reality though is very different. Think for a moment about when you’ve been in the position of a parent, a teacher, a babysitter who is faced with dealing with a difficult child. You know that there’s not really much use in trying to reason with a misbehaving kid. You can’t explain why their behavior is not ultimately in their best interest. All you can do is tell them, “Do it, because I said so.”
"Moses and the Ten Commandments," Lorenzo Ghiberti, East Doors of the Baptistery of St. John ("The Gates of Paradise"), Florence, c. 1440
The amazing thing, of course, is that (usually) that’s reason enough. The child seems to understand innately that we really do have their best interest at heart, and thus, “because I said so” is sufficient. Later he or she comes to understand that whatever we were telling them to do really was correct. They realize that things like “Go and clean your room,” “Brush your teeth,” and even more drastic things like, “Don’t play in the street,” and “Don’t touch the hot stove,” are not just our whims in the moment but really are for their own good. So too are the commands of God not just his arbitrary demands; they are always ordered to our highest good.
Friends, when we hear Jesus tell us to “Love your enemy” and “Turn the other cheek,” his words might seem impossible, even foolish. But remember that the wisdom of God is not the wisdom of this world. God never commands us to do something that he does not also give us the grace to fulfill. With our highest good at heart, God empowers us with his Holy Spirit to live as another Jesus in the world. As we approach the altar in this Mass, may we prepare our hearts to do as God commands, so that we might learn to love as he loves, and that we might be holy, perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
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