5. “… To be perfect …”
You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48
… make every effort to put on the Spirit of Christ himself (Common Rules I, 3) in order to acquire a holiness appropriate to their vocation. (Common Rules, XII, 13).
Constitutions 1,1
All Christians are called to holiness. For the missionary, this calling takes on a specific dimension: the commitment to make every effort to acquire a perfection appropriate to his calling so that he might follow Jesus the Evangelizer of the Poor.
1. A Rule of Perfection That Follows the Command of the Father
Jesus commands us to be good in all things, just as his Father is good. Saint Vincent exhorted his missionaries to seek this state of holiness:
O wonderful decree of the Son of God! ‘Be perfect,’ said he, ‘as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ That is a high aim; who can reach it? To be perfect as the Eternal Father! Nevertheless, that is the standard. Not all christians, however, strive to attain this holiness. So God, according to his plan, raises up some people who dedicate themselves to his Divine Majesty. Through the grace of God they strive to become perfect themselves, and so lead others to perfection. In what does this perfection consist? It consists in making us pleasing to God, in possessing grace, and possessing it in abundance. That is what renders all our thoughts, words and actions pleasing to God. And what we leave undone, even that is pleasing to God. Oh what happiness! Oh what happiness has a missionary who makes it his chief endeavor to render himself pleasing to God, who strives to rid himself of all impediments and to acquire what is wanting to him! This labor renders us pleasing to God. It is essential, therefore, to labor at it unceasingly, to receive grace unto that end. Indeed, it is essential to be advancing always in grace.1
2. Perfection Does Not Consist of Ecstasy
Saint Vincent handed on to his followers a traditional doctrine. Like Saint Theresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross, Saint Vincent spoke of attaining perfection not through doing extraordinary things, but through living totally united to the will of God:
Perfection does not consist of ecstasies, but in doing God’s will. What is perfection? It seems to me to mean something to which nothing is wanting. Now who is there so perfect as to be wanting in nothing? Indeed, no one is perfect, and even the just person falls seven times a day. But the Son of God, made man, does possess this perfection. Nothing was wanting to him. He was most perfect in all things. Now who is the most perfect person? The one whose will is conformed to the will of God. So perfection consists in so uniting our will to God’s that His will and ours become one. The one who excels in this point is the most perfect.2
3. We Are Mediators Between God and His People
Besides its personal dimension, perfection for Saint Vincent also had an apostolic dimension:
We are mediators between God and his people. Now to succeed in this mediation, the first thing we should do is strive to please God. When one wishes to negotiate with a nobleman, a prince or a king, one chooses a person who is pleasing to him, who will be listened to, and in whom nothing can be found that will hinder the bestowal of the expected favor. So then, gentlemen, it is most beneficial to strive unceasingly after perfection so that all our actions may be pleasing to God, and so that we may be made worthy to render assistance to others.3
- Jesus calls me to holiness. How do I respond to this call?
- Do I value perfection found in the ordinary routine of life; in dealing with those people who are considered outcasts; in dealing with matters that others consider unimportant?
Prayer:
O Savior! O my brothers! How happy are we to find ourselves on the road to perfection. O Savior! grant us the grace always to walk forward in our struggle to be as perfect as the heavenly Father. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.4