Leviticus 18:19-21:24

I was afraid that I would shortly run out of things to say about the litany of "do nots" in Leviticus. But I find this passage to be rich (although still plenty of "do nots"). I am struck by these words of the Lord to Moses: Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. And again a little while later: Sanctify yourselves, then, and be holy; for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. We are called to holiness. So many saints and Catholic writers have said the very same thing. I am currently reading Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly, and he makes this a central part of his message. It's a powerful idea, that God has created me and called me to be holy, as He is holy. St. Athanasius said that the Divine became man so that man could become divine. Doesn't that very powerfully convey the message of Christianity in as compact a way imaginable? The Lord goes on to expand on the Ten Commandments, providing some more insight and explanation. I was struck by this sentence: You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. One could obviously take this literally, because to do these things would be not only wrong, but cruel. But they spoke to me as a metaphor. Do I dismiss or condescend to those who don't believe what I believe? Who I perceive to be deaf to God's message? Do I judge them without knowing them as God does? Do I make it harder for those who seem blind to God and His message by failing to show them love, compassion or mercy? Unfortunately, yes. And in doing so, I fail to "fear" or respect (much less love and honor) God and His creation. Perhaps if I cleared the path for them a bit, rather than acting as a stumbling block, their blindness might be "cured"--or at least their vision, their view of God, might be improved. So, my call to personal holiness is not, strictly speaking, purely personal, but rather can and should impact my community as well.