At the dawn of this nascent year, when all wishes and all hopes are permitted, there remains a desire that we should all aspire to: that of perfection. The bar may seem high to us, but with the recourse of grace, perseverance in faith, our good will, we can at least approach it!
The desire for perfection”
Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5,48): Infinite ideal that does not provide any limit to our efforts and allows no bounds to our holy ambitions! Certainly, we are not all called to the same degree of perfection, some having received only one talent while others have received two, five …. But the important thing for everyone is not to bury what he has received, to make it abundantly fruitful and to attain the level of holiness to which the merciful Providence calls one.But in the life of souls, this degree is rarely reached. There are very few of them who go to the end of divine graces and human forces. Often, we stay halfway, just mediocre, which is precisely the opposite of the perfect. We do no mortal sin, we practice almost ordinary virtues, but we do not pay attention to light faults or imperfections, we no longer fight its faults … In short, we sink into the sad and sterile banality of the lukewarm
This is what we must respond to and what we need to do in this new year and all our lives! For this, we must start with the desire to become better, it will quickly translate into action. You are inclined to anger, want to become “sweet and humble of heart”! You are lazy, negligent, become ” workers”. You tend to gossip, become benevolent with the next. The material wealth of this world attracts you, strip yourself of materialism, be generous … and so on!
Let everyone consider which way he is leaning and standing on the opposite side. We will soon see the first victories! Desire to climb higher, become more and more holy! St Francis of Assisi said to a companion, “My brother, let us begin today to love the good God! Well, let’s start this year with these same dispositions of the heart! (Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud)