Where in our lives can we respond to the call to be people of love and mercy?
Fidelity and commitment are among the themes that regularly surface in Scripture. God’s Trinitarian nature and relationship with us are models to emulate.
Keep those relationships in mind as we listen to the teachings that flow through the Scriptures on the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At one point in the readings, we are challenged to be “perfect as God is perfect.” I can’t judge everyone else’s life, but I can safely say that none of us have lived up to that challenge. When it comes to fidelity and commitment, perfection is impossible to attain, but certainly is an example to keep in mind.
The life of Jesus and the rest of the Bible are filled with teachings about relationships within families, our attitudes and behaviors in friendships and our way of living — whether that be spouses or single people living the gift of celibacy for the sake of God’s kingdom. Again, I would say that none of us live up to the perfection of God’s relationship with us, but we try as best we can to follow the example of Jesus in our relationships with one another.
It makes sense that those who commit themselves to marriage ought to stay married and faithful to each other, as God has remained faithful to us. It makes sense that those of us who have committed to living a celibate life remain faithful to the commitment for the rest of our lives. But we are not God, so we may encounter weaknesses and failings and their effects on our relationships.
We have learned, hopefully, that it isn’t holy to coerce someone to stay in an abusive relationship. We have learned, hopefully, that celibacy is not a place to hide from intimacy. We have learned, hopefully, that one vocation in life is not superior to another vocation. We have learned, hopefully, that when these relationships fail, our response should not be one of judgment and rejection but one of love, healing and faithfulness.
We have a long way to go before we can claim that we act like godly people when we experience other people’s relationships broken or failing. Many of us run from people like them, afraid that their brokenness or failure might affect our relationships. Some of us even judge them as less than ourselves and shun them from community. As the Scriptures teach us, we should be honoring and doing everything we can to strengthen the commitments that we have made. We should continue to uphold those whose relationships exemplify God’s fidelity to us. Even when we do that, it is possible to care for those experiencing the hardship of broken relationships.
Does the Gospel reading this weekend give us permission to look down on those whose relationships are broken? Does it encourage us to look more deeply into our own commitments and ensure that we are being as holy and healthy as we can be toward our partners, whoever they may be?
I would encourage each of us to fight the temptation to use these Scriptures as a way of going after other people. Rather, let’s take this time to ask ourselves some helpful questions. We know that God, through the person of Jesus, has shown us what true love looks like. Love means willingly emptying ourselves for our enemies and those who wish to hurt us. We are called to return love toward hatred and forgiveness toward sin. We are called to be people ultimately of love and mercy. Let’s choose to act toward others as God acts toward us. Let’s take this opportunity to acknowledge where we have not been godly in our relationships with others. Repent, be converted and hear anew the challenge to be godly. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
