Christian Perfection
The only great tragedy in life is not to become a saint — Léon Bloy
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48).
In Genesis 17, God appeared to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be perfect” (Gen. 17:1).
Not Sinless Perfection
The saints and theologians often use the term “Christian perfection” to describe the goal of every follower of Jesus Christ. Father Arthur Devine, in the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, defines Christian perfection as
“the supernatural or spiritual union with God which is possible of attainment in this life, and which may be called relative perfection, compatible with the absence of beatitude, and the presence of human miseries, rebellious passions, and even venial sins to which a just man is liable without a special grace and privilege of God.”
In other words, while the believer will only be truly perfect in Heaven, he can and must strive to become perfect with a “relative perfection.” Father Devine’s article on Christian and Religious perfection goes on to say:
“This perfection consists in charity, in the degree in which it is attainable in this life (Matthew 22:36–40; Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 12:31, and 13:13). This is the universal teaching of the Fathers and of theologians.”
The renowned Jesuit Giovanni Battista Scaramelli (1687–1752) says,
“The relative perfection for which we should strive, consists in loving God and serving Him as much as our nature, condition and state of life will permit. This relative perfection may be called Christian perfection.”
This perfection is not “sinless perfection” but Christian maturity: a high level of sanctity, holiness, purity of heart, or Christ-like character.
Christian perfection is most clearly characterized by the virtue of charity, or Christian love, especially in the form of fraternal charity (1 Cor. 13:1–13).
“Above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14).
Other ways that the scripture, saints, and spiritual writers describe this perfection are holiness, sanctity, godliness, blamelessness, heroic virtue, divinization, and Christlikeness.
Strive for Christian perfection. Isn’t this what Jesus meant when He told us,
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Mt. 6:33)?
Not Perfectionism
Warning! Christian Perfection is not “perfectionism.” Perfectionism (as opposed to Christian perfection) is a psychological characteristic that tends to be unhealthy and self-destructive. The Wikipedia article on perfectionism states:
“that what is termed ‘adaptive perfectionism’ is associated with suicidal thinking, depression, eating disorders, poor health and early mortality.”
We don’t want this!
Strive to Be a Saint
Our goal in this life on earth is to pursue Christian perfection, not to beat ourselves up for not achieving it. (Again, we will never achieve perfect holiness in this life.) Instead, let us patiently and unrelentingly strive for holiness, even if we do not fully achieve it here on earth.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux states,
“Continual striving for perfection and the efforts made to arrive at it, are already perfection.”
If you fall, get up. In Benedicta Ward’s translation of The Sayings of the Desert Fathers,
“A brother asked Abba Sisoes, ‘What shall I do, abba, for I have fallen?’ The old man said to him, ‘Get up again.’ The brother said, ‘I have got up again, but I have fallen again.’ The old man said, ‘Get up again and again.’”
Press on! Even Saint Paul said he had yet to achieve perfection. He writes:
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own” (3:12).
Prayer, the Holy Eucharist, Confession, spiritual reading, spiritual direction, and patient endurance of the inevitable sufferings of life are all necessary means to achieve our goal.
But if we don’t have a goal in all that we are doing, we will go in circles. Our goal is sanctity, our goal is holiness, our goal is love for God and neighbor, our goal is Christian perfection.
As French Catholic novelist Léon Bloy said,
“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”
We have our goal. We must become saints!
“Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14).
Let us also “press on” toward the goal of Christian perfection!
“This is the will of God: your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).
