Perfection Rhymes with Confession?

            Perfect: the word has a lot of connotation in modern society. Mostly, it isn’t used among humans to refer to the behavior of other humans. In fact, it may refer to many other things other than behavior: machines, technology, vehicles, and last but not least, the opposite sex and their appearance. These uses are far from the “perfect” we read about in Scripture, the Saints and the writings of the Church. “Perfection” seems, to the world, a lofty idea, only achievable by external improvements of evolutionary advances and technological inventions. The “perfection” that Christ and his Church speak about, though, is internal, of the heart, and one starting at imperfection, first.

            Imperfection is the starting place of perfection, because we are all in need of the God who abundantly loves us; we are all in need of grace. The world begins a pursuit of perfection with pride. Christ begins with humility. The world attempts to build mini versions of the Tower of Babel over and over again: “Look at what we can do. Look at the achievements! Look at the advances we can make! One day, we will be in Paradise … several generations from now.” Instead, Christ says, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all of your goods, and then come follow me,” and, “If you will be exalted, humble yourself.”

            Christ told this parable to those who trusted in their own self-righteousness:

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14 NRSVCE)

Perfection, then, does not begin with self-pride and self-righteousness. It does not begin with the thought that we are already holy, that we are capable of great things, or that we can make ourselves righteous by our own strength. It begins with the recognition that we are in need of grace to accomplish anything, and that “apart from [Christ] you can do nothing. (John 15:5)” The beginning of perfection is in recognizing our complete poverty in and of ourselves. Even the Ever-Virgin, Immaculately Conceived proclaimed her need of God, her poverty: “My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. (Luke 1:47)”

Christ repeatedly proclaimed that his first coming was to “seek and to save the lost,” and to heal those who were ill and blind, those living in darkness. “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. (Mark 2:17)” He came to heal our wounds. So, after his resurrection, the first thing he did was give the authority of forgiving sins to his apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. (John 20:22,23 NRSVCE)”

The one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church is a living paradox: she is holy, and yet filled with sinners on earth. This is because Christ is the one who makes her holy, through his Sacraments, each time he forgives and washes her members. Christ knows our weakness. He knows our need of his strength, his power, his grace, and especially his mercy. In giving us the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he gave us the means of being healed, and to receive a clean heart from God. (Psalm 51; James 4:8; 5:14-16) “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” wrote St. John in his first epistle. (1:8,9 NRSVCE)

There is only one way to perfection, then. That is, to recognize our utter poverty without God, and to confess our sins to him and before others. In doing so, we will be justified. And from there, we can begin building our house on solid foundation – Christ, who is the rock bottom. Only he can help us to live the Christian life. Only he can help us to overcome our faults and our habitual sins, our vices. Only he can heal us of all the evil in our hearts.

Perfection consists in always going to Christ, the source of holiness, and being filled with his Spirit, constantly relying on him to work in and through us, without excuse, without despair, without pride. We must always humble ourselves, each day, in his presence and in the presence of others, so that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may exalt us to the highest places of love and holiness to which he has called us. He wants us to be great; he wants us to be perfect. Sometimes, it just takes confession and forgiveness to start anew. Always, though, it takes humility.

“My grace is sufficient for you. In your weakness, my power is made perfect.” -- Jesus to St. Paul, 1 Cor. 12:9

“To acknowledge one's sin, indeed-penetrating still more deeply into the consideration of one's own personhood-to recognize oneself as being a sinner, capable of sin and inclined to commit sin, is the essential first step in returning to God.”

--St. John Paul II, “Reconciliation and Penance,” (13).

"Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident -- in the most audacious way -- in His Fatherly goodness."

--St. Therese of the Infant Jesus

”The more a person loves God, the more reason he has to hope in Him. This hope produces in the Saints an unutterable peace, which they preserve even in adversity, because as they love God, and know how beautiful He is to those who love Him, they place all their confidence and find all their repose in Him alone.”

“He who trusts himself is lost. He who trusts God can do all things.”

--Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Doctor of the Church, pray for us.

St. Paul, you murdered a man and called yourself worst of all sinners. Yet, you were forgiven and made holy by Christ our Lord. You persevered by his Cross and Resurrection. Pray for us, that we may praise God with you and all the saints and angels forever.

Amen. +