To live an authentic life is to become fully yourself. To be holy is to become fully the person God created you to be. The authentic life, responding to God’s call to live a holy life, and our essential purpose are one and the same.
More than eighteen hundred years ago, Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-200) wrote, “The glory of God is the perfection of the creature.” We do not give glory to God by presenting ourselves at Mass on Sunday, sitting in the back, paying no attention, and believing that we will have our names ticked off in some divine attendance book that exists only in our minds. We do not give glory to God by falling before his altar helplessly and hopelessly to beg him to make right what we have set wrong, or what God has given us the ability and responsibility to make right ourselves. Nor do we give God glory by masking our rejection of his gentle but ever-present call with the occasional good deed, mindless prayer, or charitable contribution.
“The glory of God is the perfection of the creature.” The human person is perfected by the grace of God through the conscious, disciplined, and persistent attainment of virtue. But the grace of God is never lacking, so it is our conscious, disciplined, and persistent effort that is the key to a richer and more abundant future for humanity. This disciplined striving for virtue is an indispensable characteristic of the authentic life.
It is important to understand that the perfection that God calls us to is not some type of robotic perfection. If you asked a kindergarten class to draw and color a perfect tree, they would use hard, straight lines and bright colors. No such tree exists. But there are lots of perfect trees. Their crookedness is part of their perfection; the defects in your character are not part of your best self.
In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” What did Jesus mean when he spoke of perfection? The word perfect used here, in Matthew 5:48, means “whole and complete.”
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul writes, “This is the will of God: that you be saints.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) God wants you to be holy. Your holiness is the desire of God, the delight of God, and the source of your happiness. To embrace who you were created to be and to become the-best-version-of-yourself is God’s dream for you. Therefore, holiness is for everyone, not just for a select few, for monks in monasteries and nuns in convents; it is for you and me.
Your daily tasks have spiritual value. You don’t work just for money. When you work hard and pay attention to the details of your job, you cooperate with God as he transforms your soul. In this way your work helps you to become more fully yourself. It is also a way to love your neighbor and make a contribution to society. In the same way, washing the dishes can be as much a prayer as praying the rosary. Each task, each hour offered to God is transformed into prayer. And in all these ways you give glory to God through your daily work.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
“The more fully a person we become, the holier we are. The holier we are the more fully a person we become.” - Eduardo Bonnín
“I said to the almond tree, Friend, speak to me of God, and the almond tree blossomed.” - Nikos Kazantzakis in “Report to Greco”
1. What are we here for? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is your essential purpose? In other words, what is the goal of the Christian life?
2. What is holiness? How do you understand it? And, how does Matthew Kelly explain this?
1 comment:
I have wanted to comment on this article Fr. Modesto shared on Matthew Kelly's writing but mostly because of the quote about the almond tree. I have read it over and over again so many times. First, simply because it is so beautiful and second because I yearn to be so. There is so much pressure it seems that we put on each other to prove our love to one another in our family and our circle of friends. It's kind of like when Jesus was asked for a "SIGN". Don't we do that to each other too often? Ask for proof that we are someone's friend or of our love. And for me I find that I get confused and think I need to respond to that request for proof of my friendship, my love, my faith. But really the beauty is in that we blossom at a natural moment of all that we are. We cannot bring this moment about any sooner by filling our days with motions or little jobs that can make us think that we are "done". I think of that blossoming and realize all that has transpired within the almond tree before that moment. And when we do blossom there will be no discussion, there will be no doubt.
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