Saturday of the First Week of Lent (2022-2023)

You, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"

These words that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples and the people on the Mount must be taken to our hearts deeply.

But how to understand this: being perfect.

The Church Fathers in many places explained what that truly means.

They were far from the modern meaning of the term; where "being perfect" is understood as "perfectionism" which actually is recognized as a cognitive-emotional aberration by the psychologists and mental health specialists.

They were saying that Ultimately perfection does not come from the individuals / from us but from God.

Saint Peter in His letter wrote: 1 Peter 5:10 “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.”

Without God as the source of holiness it is actually really easy to come into some “unrealistic urgent demanding expectations" about ourselves and about others: our spouses, our churches / communities, our priests, etc.

Only if God is the source for us we will be like him - Perfect in Love.

Even to love those who despise you, who scorn you, who insult you...

In 1993 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was falsely accused by a young fellow of improper conduct.

The story was spun by the media and a big campaign flared up against him.

He confessed later that his internal suffering during that time would hardly be endurable were it not for his faith and knowledge of his innocence.

After three months of ordeal and media persecution, his accuser admitted that the accusation was false.

Soon after, Stephen (the accuser) was dying from AIDS in a hospital bed.

Cardinal Bernardin went to visit him.

The poor man apologized for the wrongs he had committed against the Cardinal.

Bernardin forgave him immediately and with affection, becoming concerned only with Stephen's spiritual health and making sure that he could prepare himself properly for his death.

I’m sure you know about other story, St John Paul II went to visit Ali Agca, the man who shot him.

There, in his prison, Ali Agca was forgiven and ended up kissing the hand of the Pope he had tried to kill just a few weeks before.

Our true perfection does lie in any spiritual “techniques” but in its the author - Our Perfect Father in Heaven.