“Forgive: Be Perfect as Your Heavenly Father Is Perfect”
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
This homily was given at the Pontifical North American College
Vatican City State
by Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
February 23, 2014
Today we just heard Jesus saying in the gospel of Matthew:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . . For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have . . . . Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect.”
My question when I hear this gospel is how to become perfect like our Father is perfect—not in a perfection that is an abstract, unattainable, and ultimately unattractive ideal—but a concrete reality of reaching the goal or the telos of what it means to be the person who God created us to be.
So how to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect?
One of my theological hobbies, if you will, is to delve a bit deeper into how the Church in the first six centuries developed the theory of what they call the active life, that is, the eradication of vice and the cultivation of virtue. The eradication of vice—dealing effectively with the logismoi—the evil thoughts that attack us—but which we must get rid of immediately—so that evil passions do not drive us—wiping them off evil thoughts—before they stain.
My particular interest is in noticing what the symptoms of the eight capital vices are and what are their cures according to the Fathers of the Church.
That means looking more closely at the vices of gluttony, fornication, covetousness, anger, sadness, acedia or what we might call listlessness, vainglory, and pride. The best sources that I have found are the Prakkikos of Evagrius of Pontus, the Institutes of Saint John Cassian, and Cassian’s Conference #5.
In a sense, then, in reflecting on today’s gospel, how do we get to the point of loving our enemies—and doing good to those who hate us?
An ancient maxim quoted approvingly by Saint Augustine is: Odium est ira inveterata—Hate is anger grown old.
Hate is anger grown old—so to deal with hate, one first of all has to deal with anger.
To look at the symptoms of anger:
• Anger is seen by the Fathers as being the fiercest passion—it is defined as a boiling and stirring up of wrath against one who has given injury–or is thought to have done so.
• It constantly irritates the soul, and above all at the time of prayer it seizes the mind and flashes the picture of the offensive person before one’s eyes. Be quiet and try to pray, and the offensive person will come before your eyes.
• Then there comes the time when anger persists longer, is transformed into indignation. This is noticed at night when people try to sleep, they try to rest and they recall how someone has offended them—they toss and turn—while the other person is actually probably sleeping soundly and contentedly.
Very important for the Fathers is that our peace of soul cannot depend on another’s will—which can never be subject to our authority—or to another’s perfection—our own peace of soul can only depend on the grace of God and our own long suffering.
But we live in a culture that in a sense sometimes glorifies anger—some people even seem to go beyond hate and seem to make a career out of being offended or indignant.
So how do the Fathers of the Church advise that we get beyond the anger that can become hate—ultimately, how do they suggest that we get beyond anger so that we can become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
In other words, what are the cures for the passion of anger?
• In one of his Lenten homilies, St. Leo the Great in the middle of the fifth century said that you should actually rejoice when someone offends you—because then you can pray the Our Father and ask for forgiveness. If no one ever offended you, how could you say—Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us. It is precisely the person who offends us, not our friends or those whom we are comfortable with, who present to us with the possibility of praying for forgiveness for ourselves. Rejoice when someone offends you—don’t get angry. It can be a time of grace for you and for me.
• A second point is to live in forgiveness. To forgive is not to say that I will forgive if:
o He is sorry;
o He apologizes;
o He plans never to do it again.
o He may never be sorry, never apologize, and may plan to do it again!
o He may kind of delight in irritating us: he might know what buttons to push; he might dangle the bait before our eyes. It doesn’t matter. As far as we are concerned, that is all OK.
o As the Fathers say: our peace of soul can never depend on another’s will or another’s perfection. It can only depend on the grace of God and our own long suffering.
• Another cure for anger according to the Fathers is giving a gift to the other person—according to them, a gift snuffs out the fire of resentment—it changes the giver—if you cannot give a gift, be kind to the other person—By the way, this should not make you suspicious if someone is kind to you or gives you a gift—do not start thinking—“Hmm! How have I offended him?”
• As we move towards the season of Lent, we will hear this same gospel “Love your enemies and be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect” on Saturday of the first week of Lent—and the Communion antiphon will again repeat over and over again: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, says the Lord.”
• Finally, Rejoice in being forgiving: the Saturday of the Second week of Lent has for its gospel the parable of the prodigal son—and the Communion antiphon, which will be sung again and again as people approach Communion is: You must rejoice, my son, for your brother was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.
• Christian forgiveness is not given grudgingly or sadly as the older son might have done in the parable.
• Christian forgiveness is rejoiced in—the father rejoiced when his son returned—he calls for a ring, sandals, the best robe, music, dancing, and the slaughtering of the fatted calf. God rejoices to forgive—and we should too—Oportet te fili gaudere—it behooves you, my son, to rejoice, for your brother was dead and has come to life, he was lost and is found.
Rejoicing in forgiving is one of the ways that we overcome anger and hate. It is one of the ways that we are made new and one of the ways that we can be made perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
All glory be to him, now and forever. Amen.
Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church