Today’s post is a reflection from Fr. Michael Schleupner. Fr. Mike is a frequent presenter at our Center and we look forward hosting him next summer for one of our directed retreats. You can learn more about that retreat here. Let’s take a few quiet moments to read Fr. Mike’s words today.
Dear Friends,
I have often wondered about Jesus’ words: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is really challenging. Let’s face it: we will never arrive at the point of perfection. We will always be on the way.
So, what does Jesus’ call to perfection really mean? I wonder if it gets fulfilled in our humble admission of imperfection – first within ourselves, and then in others and in our world.
This humble admission of imperfection leads us to:
- a closer relationship with God
- a healthy and realistic sense of ourselves
- and, amazingly, the love of others (even enemies!) that Jesus talks about.
How ironic! Perfection is found in imperfection!
“If there is such a thing as human perfection, it seems to emerge precisely from how we handle the imperfection that is everywhere, especially our own. A ‘perfect’ person ends up being one who can consciously forgive and include imperfection (like God does), rather than one who thinks he or she is totally above and beyond any imperfection.”
From Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M.
May the peace of the Lord be with you!
~Father Mike
1 reply on “Perfectly Imperfect”
As humans we are indeed perfectly imperfect. I like to think that when we make a mistake and become aware of our imperfection – and then learn from that mistake – we have turned the mistake/imperfection and the learning into a perfect moment. Perhaps Christ was reminding our human self to learn from our imperfect moments and turn them (one at a time – throughout our life) into perfect moments. Thank You for reminding me of this wonderful quotation from the New Testament. Someone once suggested that perhaps the quotation was misquoted – and that Christ was saying “You are perfect, as is your heavenly Father” – referring to our Soul/Spirit that is one with God – one with Perfection. I rather enjoy reflecting on both quotations – as I think both are valid.