We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), humanitarian and advocate for poor and helpless.
As a Catholic priest for almost 40 years, I have celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with thousands of people. When I was working at our La Salette Shrine in Ipswich, MA, many years ago, we used to gather monthly with leaders from other faiths, as our Shrine personnel do here in Attleboro as well.
One day at our meeting I was surprised when our table discussion suddenly shifted to religious leaders and the need to talk with their congregation about forgiveness. The Methodist minister popped out with “You know, I wish we had a Sacrament of Reconciliation like you Catholics. We all need to discuss forgiveness and realize that God forgives us generously.”
Any of us who have family and friends around us realize quickly that perfection is not a quality any of us will ever attain in this world. Thankfully God doesn’t ask us to attain it in this life—just seek after it. In other words, we are called to get better as we get older and accept that we are loved by God but will always be needy and imperfect.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (1906–1945), German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and martyr.
Of course, the process of seeking to be perfect can go overboard and become perfectionism. This is described as: “a refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.” It is also described as “A philosophy or doctrine that religious, moral, social, or political perfection is attainable.” (The Oxford American Dictionaries)
Our daily working toward perfection can be helped if we have people whom we can look up to, who are our heroes. But we must be careful not to hold people on so high a plain that, with their first mistake, they plunge to the ground, crushing our admiration and leaving us empty inside. Recent examples of sports figures whose lives were far from perfect abound. These disappointments can seemingly be balanced with “they’re only human” but that isn’t a proper response. Perhaps we need to accept their mistakes and possibly still be able to see in them some remaining redeeming qualities.
A great leveler in acceptance and forgiveness is the saying by the 16th century Australian politician, John Bradford. While he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, he saw a criminal on his way to execution and was purported to say “There, but for the grace of God, go I (goes John Bradford).” He knew he himself wasn’t perfect and was humbled at the thought of how easily he could make mistakes similar to others.
St. Thomas More (1478-1535), English lawyer, philosopher, author and opponent of Protestant Reformation.Imperfect heroes abound in our history. As a child of the 60’s, I remember President John F. Kennedy—both his stirring qualities and those I’d much rather forget. Also, having lived for a few years near Atlanta and having visited his homestead and the King Center more than once, I think of the life and works of Martin Luther King, Jr. I cannot but be impressed with what he did and said yet his flaws still loom large in my memory.
It would be a shame to “miss the forest for the trees”, to dismiss the great accomplishments of these two heroes of mine because they weren’t as perfect as I would ultimately wish. Perhaps I need to approach their lives with a bit more humility about my own life—remembering my good qualities as well as my imperfections and failures.
Maybe, as an aging Baby Boomer, I can take some consolation in what the philosopher Plato said: “The spiritual eyesight improves as the physical eyesight declines.” Maybe there’s still a chance for me to see others with God’s eyes. I certainly hope so.
Also you and I can all take solace in the basic belief that God forgives—and we sure do need it!