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In Adoration this week, I found that one phrase in particular got stuck in my head: Holy and Perfect. It reminded me of Christ’s words: "Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48) A command that seems, at first, impossible.
He commands perfection—but no one is, can be, or ever will be perfect. How could anyone be? Humanity is weak, fallen, flawed. Made in His image, yes, but still broken. Perfection is beyond reach. Nonsense, it seems! Surely He does not expect the impossible.
But then, I had a quiet realization: He does not command perfection as an impossible demand. He offers it to us as a gift. He calls His people to holiness, not because they can achieve it on their own, but because He desires to - and WILL -make them holy. Because He is holy.
To be perfect as the Father is perfect is not about being flawless in our own right—it's about accepting the love of Christ. A love that empties itself, that forgives, that draws us ever closer to Him. A love that surrenders to the Will of the Father, gives everything it has.
We can't really do anything in particular to become perfect; yes, we receive the Sacraments, we enter into prayer, we give alms and make reparations for our sins - but none of these things make us perfect, and that isn't what Christ calls us to - not to earn perfection in His sight, but to receive it from His love.
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