“SO BE PERFECT, JUST AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT.” MT 5:38-48
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary.
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.” LV 19:1-2, 17-18
Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God. 1 Cor 3:16-23
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” MT 5:38-48
Today, Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount which teaches us how to be holy. This is the whole basis for why I end each meditation with “Be a servant, become a saint!” and Christian YOLO. We are only given a short time to learn about God and then make a choice, God or me.
Our fallen human nature desires comfort and luxury and is constantly distracting us from God. Satan, the most intelligent and powerful of the angels, is trying to deceive us every day. Then, God sets the bar extremely high, holiness.
Holiness equals joy with the Father forever. God the Father has one desire, our friendship. It is what we are made for. But it is impossible to attain. What? Yes, it is impossible for humans. We need a Savior, someone to sacrifice everything for every one of our sins. No stain of sin will enter heaven. Our time on earth is a place for purification together with Purgatory.
God did not send His only Son to die for us to attain purgatory or to achieve and build up riches on earth. He sent His Son to die for us so that we can reach the highest bar, holiness. This requires Christian hope born in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must believe in our hearts and minds. We must seek. We must have faith.
Faith is developing trust through a relationship with our Savior. Where do we start, stay, and finish. In the daily Scriptures and prayer. We must learn to fail. What? How is that perfection? What billionaire has not failed many times before they succeeded? Persistence is the key to perfection. God has set in place grace through His Son while on earth so that we have food for the soul on our journey.
Once we have made a decision to believe Jesus rose and His words are Truth, develop a daily relationship through prayer and reflect on what He is teaching us in the Scriptures, we begin to love. We see the good in others, we are patient, we stop worrying and trust, we begin to serve without expecting anything in return, we die to self for the sake of the other, we realize how much Christ gave up to show us true love, we allow God to work through us to be Christ for the world starting in our homes.
This strengthens our relationship with our Creator and Savior with the guidance of the Holy Spirit which is the love between the Father and the Son living in us. Our DNA is love, it is not a label that can be placed on us, it is our very being given to us by the One who is love. We begin to live out our baptismal vows of growing in holiness and fighting Satan with the help of God’s grace.
The saints failed many times on their road to holiness. They continued to strive for holiness unrelentingly. They recognized themselves better than anyone as sinners who needed God’s mercy. They often went to daily Mass, confession often, and said a rosary every day. It is impossible for humans to be holy, but with God anything is possible. Fill yourself up with God’s grace and try to stay present with Him throughout your day. He is always present with you, chasing after you with His relentless love!
Today’s challenge: Be tough, enter the spiritual weight room, and prepare yourself for Lent starting on Feb. 22nd. In order to be tough like the saints, we must first humble ourselves and realize we need God (1st 3 commandments and the 1st beatitude). Fall to your knees and begin to pray, then pick yourself up and pick up a Bible, dust it off, and begin to unrelentingly build a relationship with Jesus.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
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