“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In the gospel of Matthew Jesus gives his disciples an imperative command in his instructions on discipleship in the Sermon on the Mount. This exigent demand does not ask of us to “act” in a certain way but rather to “be” a certain way. This way of being arises out of our essential being and identity as children of God the Father. If we are the children of God then we must be like our Father in heaven. The Book of Leviticus commands God’s people to, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” (Lev 19,2)

The gospel of Luke instructs us, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6,36) What is common to holiness, mercy and perfection is love. The Father’s love is perfect, merciful and holy and as children of God, we must learn to love as the Father loves. God’s love is pure grace and gift. It is not a feeling, sentiment or emotion that vacillates, “for God is love.” (1Jn 4,8) When God loves, he shares his Divine being with those who are receptive to his love. It is in his nature to love and it is a love that comes down from above and covers all of his creation, giving life to all things. The love of the Father is not a response. God does not love only those who love him. John tells us, “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins…We love because he first loved us.” (1Jn 4,10.19) “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” (1Jn 4,12) The perfection of God is in his love and when we love one another, as God loves us, then we are striving towards the perfection that Jesus has demanded of us.

We can not earn God’s love or win his love through our good behavior. God’s love is a gift that is available to all. The Father doesn’t love us because we are worthy of his love but he has proved his love in Jesus, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5,8) God’s love rains down upon both saints and sinners. To love as God loves means that we don’t wait to love another until someone has proved themselves worthy of our love. We don’t love only those who love us but we strive to become love as God is love – Father, Son and Spirit – and bring the blessing of love to every encounter we have with another person, even our perceived enemies.

The Lord commands us, “You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.” (Lev 19,17) As Paul reminds us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?…for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” (1Cor 3,16f) Our hearts belong to God and they are meant to be a vessel of his love. We can not harbor both love and hatred in the tabernacle of our hearts. A pure love should flow from our hearts as living water flows from the Temple of God. (Ez 47,1) This love is a truly catholic love, a universal love that is destined for all people. Our love is not limited to family, friends and community but it extends to all people regardless of race, creed or disposition. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” (1Jn 4,18) We must be fearless in the love we have for others and our love must be extended to both the bad and the good. “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.” (Mt 5,45)

Our enemies are not somewhere beyond our love but they must be included in the circle of love that is around us. They also are given to us as our brothers and sisters and they belong to us. Paul tells us, “all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.” (1Cor 3,23) In this way we bring the whole world into the love of God. Our life, like Christ, must become a continuous oblation of love offered to the Father “for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” (Eph 1,6)