Ordinary 7

The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

“Be holy…”

What does it mean to be holy?

Do we even have an understanding to begin expressing want we are invited to live?

Do you consider yourself holy? In relationship to ourselves, the whole subject of holiness might make us a bit uncomfortable. How many of us do not think we are holy – or holy enough? We are never holy enough, are we. How many of us think that true holiness is reserved for a few exceptional people of faith? Yet the command of God in Leviticus is to “Speak to the whole community of Israel…”  No follower of Jesus is exempt from living a holy life patterned after God.

The biblical passages open a door to understanding what God is asking of us. Holiness is given concrete expression. For it would seem that holiness has less to do with being than with doing.

Holiness is refraining from fostering hatred in our hearts toward people.

Holiness is correcting a person if we see them doing wrong or we share in their guilt.

Holiness forbids us to engage in revenge.

Holiness is praying for people who work to undermine us.

Holiness is being a good employer, paying someone a fair wage and paying it on time.

Holiness is not making life more difficult for someone.

Holiness is sitting by the bedside of the sick and dying.

Holiness is acting on the behalf of people in need.

Holiness is getting involved when a person is in trouble.

You are holy when you do not gossip or hold a grudge.

If holiness is patterning our lives after how God deals with us than being kind and merciful must characterize how we engage with each other. The compassion of a parent must be offered to all people; a compassion which forgives sin and heals lives.

If we recognize that every person is a temple of the Spirit and therefore sacred, how might that change our dealings with each other? But to recognize that every person is sacred we must first recognize that in our selves: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But the familiar command has a snag to it that we may not have considered. How many of us do not love and care for ourselves? How many people have been taught to nourish self–hatred or have a poor self–image that may lead to self–destructive behaviours?

What a counter balance holiness is to the negative self-identity many people have of themselves that leads to many addictions and suicides of our young people.

What a counter balance holiness is to the rising hatred in our country and world toward Jews, Asians, LGBTQ people, and immigrants and refugees.

What a counter balance holiness is moving us from taking videos of an incident to getting involved in stopping violence as we saw with George Floyd. In the biblical view every person present was responsible for his death.

What a counterbalance holiness is to the “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” reprisals that characterize the Israeli and Palestinian conflict down to the pettiness experienced in workplaces and families.

Holiness moves us outward beyond ourselves. God moved out beyond God-self in the Incarnation. The Only-Begotten Son became a human being and reached out to us from the Father and Spirit. The Spirit is daily outpoured upon us from Son and the Father. To be God, to be holy is to move outward.

To be kind is to be kind to another person. To be compassionate is to be compassionate toward another person. To pray is to pray for someone else. To refrain from hatred is to care about another person. To sit at a bedside or listen to a person is to bring a presence to them.

Holiness is not walking through life in some otherworldly state of being. Holiness is how a person acts in everyday situations. Holiness is not something we are but rather something we engage in on behalf of other people.

Even though the meaning of holiness is really beyond our grasp, I expect we are all in numerous ways living out God’s command: “Be holy…”