The perfection of love

“BE perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5,48) Very clear is the injunction of Christ to us. It should not be taken lightly, but with faith, hope and charity, with a holy bull-headedness, it should be followed, convinced that God’s grace is always there to help us carry it out.

            As a necessary consequence, since we should not just be beings of desire but also persons of action, we should do everything to make this goal reachable and a functioning, albeit streaming reality in the lives of each person and of society in general. May this divine order be obeyed and lived consistently!

            We need to come out with effective spiritualities that would animate us to seek this Christian perfection without let-up, whatever the circumstances may be. This should be an object of intense prayers by all of us.

            Of course, we need to understand first of all what this perfection is all about, for many now are the ideas and theories about the essence of this perfection, and most of them actually miss the real thing.

            There are those who associate perfection with mere looks and appearances, social standing, wealth and heath, power and fame. Ironically, when these criteria are not properly grounded on what truly makes us perfect, they become not only passive but also aggressive enemies of our perfection.

            The divine order to be perfect comes as some kind of conclusion to Christ’s long discourse, all in Matthew 5, about the beatitudes, about us being the light of the world, about the need to follow strictly the law but also to go beyond it, about our need to make our righteousness surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

            It comes after being told that we should not be afraid to cut a hand or to pluck an eye if they are in the way of our sanctification and salvation. Also, that we should not resist evil, that is, if one strikes us in the right cheek, we offer the other. Then, to top it all, Christ told us to love even our enemies.

            All these premises are pregnant with implications, both theoretical and practical. In these times of rapid communication and information, we should be very aware of them and try our best to live them.

            We have to learn to leave behind what so far we think is loving, because love by nature goes without measure. We have to follow its unending quest and adventure, relying mainly on the impulses of God’s grace.

            What is ironical is that in spite of our very advanced information technology, many of us may be gaining a lot of technical and scientific knowledge, but losing the religious knowledge and wisdom. We need to do some drastic revision of attitudes.

            What is clear is that we have to revolutionize our understanding of love which is the essence of our perfection. It should go beyond the parameters of our human condition, and give the dynamics of grace full play.

            In practical terms, this could mean that we should never say enough to the demands of love. Loving requires us to be vitally in touch with God through prayers, recourse to the sacraments, development of virtues, carrying out of our responsibilities.

            If we persist in praying, we can increasingly discern God’s will for us moment to moment. Our capacity to follow his will and to receive and share his powers and wisdom increases. We would just find ourselves swept by the forcefulness of his love. What we found before as difficult, if not impossible, to do, we would find it rather easy now.

            This perfection of love has endless manifestations. We would always think well of others in spite of their mistakes and even their offenses against us. Like God, we would be slow to anger and quick to forgive.

            On our part, we should learn to find reasons to love everyone. We should not just wait for them to prove that they deserve our love. We initiate that love at the impulse of grace. That they are persons, like us, is already enough for us to love them with madness.

            We have to learn to find excuses and to bear whatever burden and inconveniences others may cause. We will always speak well of others. We have to learn how not to be scandalized by their sins and failures. More than this, we should be eager to give them the best—and that’s none other than God.