Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
June 15, 2021
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 366
Reading I
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God
that has been given to the churches of Macedonia,
for in a severe test of affliction,
the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty
overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
For according to their means, I can testify,
and beyond their means, spontaneously,
they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part
in the service to the holy ones,
and this, not as we expected,
but they gave themselves first to the Lord
and to us through the will of God,
so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun,
he should also complete for you this gracious act also.
Now as you excel in every respect,
in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness,
and in the love we have for you,
may you excel in this gracious act also.
I say this not by way of command,
but to test the genuineness of your love
by your concern for others.
For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that for your sake he became poor although he was rich,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, my soul!
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”
Reflection: PERFECTION OF GOD'S LOVE
God is an anti-perfectionist! Would you believe that? It is proven by the last sentence we read in the Gospel today: "Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." If Jesus tells us to be perfect as the Father is, how can he be an anti-perfectionist? Well, the solution depends on what Jesus means by 'perfection' and what we mean by 'perfectionism'. Perfection denotes fullness, completeness, lack of defect, etc. Obviously he is not telling us that we should be as perfect as God in his own being. No, by definition we are limited beings, hence imperfect! Perfectionism, on the other hand is quite different. It means that in our works and in our dealings with others we expect defect-less results or behaviour from them. A boss is a perfectionist when he demands that there should not be a single mistake in the work of his subjects. The perfectionist boss keeps looking for defects and withholds his appreciation when he finds the other less than perfect! Today's Gospel says exactly the opposite of a perfectionist about the Heavenly Father. He does not look for perfection in his children in order to love them. He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good (notice that 'evil' is mentioned even before 'good'), and sends his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. He loves those who do not love him and greets those who do not greet him! He loves his enemies without reserve. That is what makes him different from the perfectionists - the Pharisees and the priests. God is perfect in his love, precisely because he is an antiperfectionist. He loves without any condition whatsoever. Thank God! That he is like that! That is why he is able to love you and me! And He wants us, his children, to reflect his image - a perfect lover!