Rome was not built in a day…Nor are we “brought to perfection” in one day either…The time to begin is now!

Today at Holy Mass we hear something in the Gospel read to us from St John that I think most will gloss over……The idea of being “brought to perfection”…What does that mean?……Let’s break it down….”And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me”……..American Christianity has influenced the Catholic mind…..The purpose of life is to be “perfected” so that when we stand before God, we enter into heaven…And if we are not “brought to perfection” as most people are not (me included), we spend time in purgatory until we are if we die in the state of grace……This is a perennial Catholic teaching, which is often glossed over…The purpose of our life here on earth SHOULD be to work on living the Beatitudes (which is the blue print to get to heaven) as well as to grow in perfect love for God and neighbor….This is a life long process and if we cooperate with God, we will “get the job done”…..But to think we die and just “float into heaven” based on what I call the “I’m a good guy standard” is NOT a Catholic concept but also does not comport with Biblical teaching…The human mind “believes” what it wants to believe to justify not changing…..Scripture is VERY clear…”God’s ways are not our ways”…The human definition of “good” is very different from God’s definition - Trust me on that one!…This is why we MUST strive each and everyday as Jesus TELLS us today in the Gospel so we are “Brought to Perfection”…….Heaven is God’s house and we enter God’s house on God’s terms…Not my words, so don’t shoot the messenger……So how do we become this “new creation”, which will allow us to get into God’s house?……By cooperating with God…..Utilizing what he gave us through his Church (ie the Sacraments, fasting and daily prayer) to grow in the virtues and lead us to perfect love of God and neighbor….Don’t be fooled and most importantly, don’t fool your self…..St Paul points us in the right direction once again……”When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things”…..This is how we are as Jesus instructs us today….“Brought to Perfection”

“You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.”

In these daily reflections one of the pervasive themes that comes up time and time again is the need for Frequent Sacramental Confession….I wish this was my original idea but its not…I “borrowed it” from three great saints…..Pope John Paul II……Padre Pio….and…Fulton Sheen…..All three of these holy men “recommend” that the Catholic faithful go to Confession once a month…Why you may ask? - “I did not kill anyone”…..Its a good question, let’s explore it…..Every time we confess our sins to a priest due to the Sacramental nature of the action, we grow in grace….Which means every time we confess a sin, which we are struggling with, God not only forgives us but gives us grace to overcome that sin…What does that mean?…In time we cease to commit that sin with the help of God’s grace…That is how we grow in virtue and that is how we are “brought to perfection” as Jesus instructed us today in the Gospel…..I got some news for you…..Without God’s grace there is NO WAY we are going to be perfected….But here is the good news - And it truly is GOOD NEWS….Jesus gave us the “tools” for us to be “brought to perfection”….But we MUST cooperate with him…..So what happens if you ignore what I just stated?…Well, I am not God and only God is the judge of souls…However, being a student of Catholic teaching, I can tell you what the Church has taught for centuries…..Only what has been “brought to perfection” enters heaven…And if we don’t “get the job done” while we are here on earth and die in the state of grace…We “sweat it out” in Purgatory until we are perfected……I can hear it now - “My Jesus won’t let that happen to me”……”That is not what I believe”….Ok - But know this - ”God’s ways are not our ways”……I can only speak for myself…..The goal of my life is NOT to “retire at Miami Beach”…My goal is the retire in heaven!…….And Jesus founded one Church that has outlasted every enemy and “naysayer” for 2000 years!………Again, to quote the words of Christ…”Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”…..God makes the rules……And God holds the keys……I will leave it there

“I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

Today we are reminded at Mass by Jesus himself for the need to be “brought to perfection”…..The Church and countless saints throughout the centuries have shown us EXACTLY how we are to go about “getting the job done”……..Many years ago in the beginning of my professional career one of my bosses said something that I will never forget…”Success is a choice”…How true that is…..We all make choices in life and those choices define our daily priorities……The goal of life SHOULD BE to arrive safely in heaven…..Sadly however, American Christianity “believes” we get into heaven based upon the “I’m a good guy” standard…..I got some news for you….Jesus did not say that…..All successful people in life, whether you “like them or not” share certain qualities which brought them success…One of those qualities is vision….Successful people look at the world objectively, assess the landscape of what they see and work hard to achieve an established goal….In order to make that happen, we must be objective in our vision and steadfast in our actions….This is how Catholics should view life….We are a pilgrim people and heaven is our home…In order to “arrive home” we MUST cooperate with God due to our shared fallen nature…..Again, don’t shoot the messenger - Just telling you how it is …….Reality is not defined by us….As they say in New Jersey - “It is what it is”……As the great GK Chesterton once said….“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell”…….Rome was not built in a day…Nor are we “brought to perfection” in one day either…The time to begin is now!