TOWARDS FATHER'S 

                        PERFECTION

  By Fr K Y Chacko

·         DO NOT TAKE REVENGE

·         LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

·         GROW TOWARDS PERFECTION  

While the Mount of Transfiguration reveals the hidden glory of Christ, the Sermon of the Mount reveals the character of God. To stretch it further, the Upper Room reveals the heart of God on which the Holy Eucharist is based, while the Book of Revelation unveils the full glory of Christ and the pattern of heavenly worship. When Christ revealed his full glory, the Beloved Disciple fell down nearly dead and Christ touches and restores him – the very disciple who was leaning on Christ’s chest in the Upper House! That demonstrates the difference between the heavenly realm and the earthly realm.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ teaches heavenly ethics, hard to understand for earthlings. When we pray, Thy kingdom come, the Lord expects us to practise heavenly ethics so that others are touched by God’s love welling in our hearts, that they are transformed by the forgiving, seeking and enduring love of God.

       

So at the pinnacle of the Sermon on the Mount comes a trilogy of commandments for his disciples to obey. They did obey and the disciples had access to God’s miraculous powers; and they were indeed led by the Spirit. But it is Greek and Latin to the worldly Christians who consider it downright foolish! To quote St Paul, The way of the cross is foolishness to those who perish.

If you love your soul, meditate on the following verses, asking God to lead you into his truth, and you will indeed hear the small still voice speaking to your heart.  

(St. Matthew 5: 38-42)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth

for a tooth:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall

smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let

him have thy cloak also.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of

thee turn not thou away. 

Taking revenge is a temporary solution, not a permanent or eternal solution. After revenge, the problem reappears in a complex way calling for more violence and bloodshed and calamity. History is full of vendetta and any serious student of history will understand the futility of revenge.

Revenge destroys the harmony of nature, on which depends the happiness and even survival of the human race. A nuclear mad world can destroy the last trace of human civilization from our planet.

Vengeance belongs to God, and by taking vengeance the created man is usurping the role of his Creator. In fact, man is playing God because of his pride, foolish pride. And in doing so, he is closing the door for God to act.

Revenge hinders worship, worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Real worship brings God’s blessing; and revenge forfeits God’s grace and blessing.   

Three illustrations in the Sermon on the Mount on three different situations set at rest any doubt we may have on how to react to injustice. Injustice is evil. No one has the right to slap you, whether on the right cheek or on the left; no one has the right to rob you of your coat, even legally; no one has the right to ask you to carry his luggage free even for a mile.

Do not return evil for evil, physically or psychologically. When treated unfairly, you have a golden opportunity to witness God’s love through goodness, by turning the other cheek, by offering him your shirt, too, and carrying the luggage of the Roman soldier two miles instead of one as demanded by him. (It was a common practice for Roman soldiers to take undue advantage of the natives).  

This is the benchmark for Christian living, and God knows how to reward his children at the right time. Giving generously has not reduced anyone to poverty. And those who are led by the Spirit are hedged in by the Spirit and the trials and tribulations, and the sorrows and pains that they pass through do not affect them since they live a blessed life transported (uplifted) by the Spirit. The life of St Mary is the best illustration.

(St. Matthew 5: 43-46)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor,

and hate thine enemy.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,

do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which

despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for

he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth

rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not

even the publicans the same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?

do not even the publicans so?

Love your enemies.

If you hate those who love you, it is satanic.

If you love those who love you, it is human.

If you love those who hate you, it is divine.  

Love of Jesus compels you to love those who hate you, thereby giving them an opportunity to experience the transforming love of God. In doing so, our life is filled with virtue; we become a man or woman full of grace. At the Second Coming, those whose life is full of virtue or grace will find themselves transported to the mid-heaven to meet Christ the Lord. Loving your enemies is a soul-lifting experience.  

(Matthew 5: 48)

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is

perfect.

Growth towards Perfection is the quintessential message of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s nothing short of full transformation – being like Jesus who is the express image of the Father. In Christ dwells the fullness of God, and he who has seen Christ has seen the Father, and he who follows Christ is walking towards Perfection, the Perfection of the Father.  

Our mission in life is first to transform ourselves, and then help transform the world, so that His Kingdom come on earth.   

WAR & PEACE

SUNNY THOMAS

Some trust in atom bombs to give them peace! Our neighbour in turmoil, Pakistan, and the military state of North Korea, whose people would die of starvation if food from their neighbor South Korea does not reach them in time, belong to this group. The exclusive nuclear club members, the US, the UK, France, and Russia, too, belong to this group. We will be unfair if we leave out China and India. We believe in Nuclear Peace, the peace of the deterrent. 

The Persian Gulf nations enjoyed a spell of long peace till the emergence of Saddam Hussein, because they trusted in their oil that energized the West. They had, so to speak, Oil Peace. Europe, torn by a century of wars, invented the magic of the market to give peace. Globalization is an extension of this market magic where nations are dependent on each other for their prosperity. So we have Market Peace.    

Henry Kissinger, the ex-Lone Ranger of American foreign policy, made a breakthrough in international diplomacy by dividing the world into two halves – the American hemisphere and the Soviet hemisphere – where each ruled separately, maintaining the balance of power. So we have one more brand, Diplomatic Peace.   

Some countries escape belligerency by focusing on sports. The Olympic Games are coming, and it’s no time for war. So Olympic Peace is now in vogue.  Some nations, like men and women, trust in culinary (eating) delights; some in fashion and lifestyle; others in sensual pleasures. So Epicurean Peace of eating, drinking and making merry is what they seek. 

How fragile are these brands of peace. Only the Prince of Peace can give you real peace; others are illusions of peace, fakes and deceptions in the Satan’s bazaar. ``My peace I give you. It’s not like what the world gives. Peace is the presence of God in your heart: rather the fruit of His Spirit in you. Knowing God and living in Him is the necessary condition for peace. 

The world has not known Him, and hence the world never had peace in the true sense. How beautifully the Sermon on the Mount describes peace in the Inner Space! Pride and peace can never tango; nor can greed and peace; nor lust and peace. Pride, greed and lust are the enemies of peace; in fact, pride is the mother of all sins.

No wonder Our Lord began the Sermon on the Mount with a blessing, blessing the humble.  Only those who know Jesus can be truly humble, even as he was while he tabernacled on earth. Thus goes a quotation: I pray because what I do in a lifetime, God can do in a matter of moments.   

God can turn my wisdom into folly by turning the tide of tomorrow against me; and He can turn my folly into wisdom by turning the tide of tomorrow. Those who invest on the stock market will appreciate this concept better. Wisdom is more about tomorrow and your ability to understand the future. When the disciples were wonderstruck at the marvel of the building of the temple, Jesus saw its ruin stone upon stone!  

Sanctification is the second step that Jesus recommends in the spiritual journey of Inner Space. Sanctification is an ever-growing process towards perfection, and so Jesus pronounces His blessings on they that mourn (repent) for inner purification. The basic difference between a saint and a Pharisee is that the Pharisee is interested in gloating over the blemishes of others while the saint is engrossed in finding his own blemishes and rooting them out.   

The meek are the Christ-like, with the power of the lion but gentle as the lamb, like a dam that stores enormous hydel power.  It is picture perfect of self-control. Blessed are those who seek God with their whole heart; for sure they will find Him. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who seek God (righteousness is an attribute of God).  

Those who seek God will be merciful like God, and God’s mercy will surround them. You will find no duplicity in the heart of the pure, for they are the holy and blessed ones of God.  Some people carry their hell wherever they go and hell breaks out wherever they are, in families, in churches, in offices, in society. They are the antithesis of peacemakers who are God’s blessed children.  

Slander, hatred, malicious gossip, lying against are often the earthly rewards of those who live a righteous life. But thy are the salt that fights moral decay, often in families and in churches, and doubly hated because of it. Self-effacing, they do not get the recognition they deserve but wear out and become oblivion. But families are preserved because of them, churches are preserved because of them, and society itself is preserved because of them.

Think of your own mom and dad who burn out for you, your own grandparents, uncles aunts, who share the burden of your upbringing. In every family, you will find the salt of the earth, melting and disappearing without hope of any reward. (But God never fails to reward such in His time).  

Jesus said, You are the light of the world, a City set on a hill. When you radiate His light, you will shine and shine, like a beacon. Home is the best seminary and school to learn God’s righteousness and peace. Let the first issue of this blessed magazine, I pray, be an inspiration to practise the Sermon on the Mount at home!          

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