Reflection

I’m a little uneasy with the word “perfection” especially when used to describe growth in the spiritual life. It is true that Jesus himself said that we should be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt.5:48). Many mystics also used the word “perfection” as the goal of the spiritual life. Even the great mystic St. Teresa of Avila wrote a book entitled The Way of Perfection. But when Jesus asked that we be perfect like the heavenly Father, he was referring to the compassionate love of God given to all, both to saints and sinners. By perfect, Jesus did not mean we should be flawless and faultless. The possibility of us becoming such is as real as the sun rising in the west.

Our inability achieving perfection is made more poignant in today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us about the parable of the wheat and the weeds. I find this parable very insightful and inspiring among the many that Jesus told. As a priest, I have been privilege to listen, unworthy as I am, to the deepest thoughts and feelings of people who come to talk to me, whether that be at confession or helping them sort out issues in their life from a spiritual perspective. I have been a spiritual guide to individuals from different cultures. In spite of the cultural differences, one thing remains the same. They all wonder: I’ve tried my best to be good and do the right thing. But the still I fail. How come? This is the very same question asked of the master in the Gospel today: Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?

Our first consciousness of the weeds was with the people around us. We expected them to be good, just and compassionate instead they’re calculating, dishonest, and hard-hearted. We condemn these attitudes and point an accusing finger not realizing that there are three other fingers pointed at us and they’re from the same hand. Hopefully, the grace of God makes us realize that we don’t need to be perfect and demand the same thing from others. We become free from that neurotic and incessant need to be pristine and impeccable. As St. Catherine of Siena said: The port of perfection can only be reached from the port of imperfection.

Our vocation, I believe, is not to be perfect. But to be faithful. And faithfulness to God includes our imperfections. Both the wheat and the weeds grow together in our heart. Like the wise master in the parable when asked should the weeds be pulled out, he said, “No, if you pull the weeds you pull the wheat with them. Let them grow together until harvest.” Such a wise and patient God we have. Our imperfections and sins are essential element s in our spiritual growth.

Response

Reflect on the following from T.S. Elliot: There is only the fight to recover what has been lost and found and lost again and again…. For us, there is only trying. The rest is not our business.