Most of our lifetime on earth is spent on trying to do better, be better and make things better, if not the best. Into this mix Jesus is throwing in a greater challenge, ‘be perfect, just as the heavenly Father is perfect.’ This feels like a standard too high and impossible for us, mere mortals, to live up to. However, being the compassionate and merciful Lord he is, Jesus would never set before us something beyond our ability to attain, without providing the means to get there. As the Gospel reading reveals, a sure way of attaining this perfection is by going beyond and reaching out to one another with love; not only those who are close to us but those who are against us. Impossible as this may seem, the Lord has demonstrated this love for us. Think of the instances that our hearts were drawn away from God, yet how he held us close. As we come to this realization, let us allow God to fill us with his love, enabling us to love those whom we have fallen out with, to enter the road to perfection.

PRAYER: Abba Father, may all hindrances that hold us captive be washed away by your love so that we may love one another as you have loved us. Amen.