『As we love others like Christ loved us, we will see people change around us,

for love covers over a multitude of sins.』

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

 On this day, Yahweh,

Your God, commands you to fulfill these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.   Today Yahweh has declared to you that he will be your God, and so you shall follow his ways, observing his norms, his com­mandments and his laws, and listening to his voice.

 Today Yahweh has declared that you will be his very own people even as he had promised you, and you must obey all his commandments.  He, for his part, will give you honor, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations he has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to Yahweh, your God, as he has declared.

 

Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

  ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you: love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good; and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust.

If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

 Gospel Reflection：

Becoming Perfect as God

The book of Deuteronomy invites us to follow God's ways, His norms, in return for being counted His people. The stress is on His norms; not ours. That is the only way we can become perfect as He is perfect.

But what are His norms? Jesus breaks it down in plain terms: Loving the enemy, praying for the oppressors, sharing "sun and rain" (read: 'resources') with everyone without minding their merits or demerits. Mystics speak of an "enlarging of heart" as we grow in union with God.

This stretching of heart is precisely for the purpose of taking in God; but God hardly comes alone; He always comes as a community, with a bunch of people. Perhaps we are afraid that our hearts will break, accommodating so many.

We can tweak a bit and adapt the prayer Nikos Kazantzakis attributes to those who have God's kind of heart: "Overstretch me, Lord. Who cares if I break?"