This is an age when we are made to believe that we can be anyone we wish
And why not? This is a time when we can easily fix our photos for the slightest imperfection. If we take it to another level, we can even set an appointment with a medical expert and choose the kind of face or body we wanted to have.
But for all the scientific advancements the world has reached, there is still one thing it cannot help us attain.
No amount of technological progress can ever change you into a good person!
What? I can already hear the response, “Of course! That’s obviously beyond the scope of science.”
And that’s precisely the point. We can be so focused on what science can do that we forget about the things the most modern technology can never accomplish for us.
How important is it to be a good person? Why aren’t we thinking about that more?
Is it because we think it’s easy to become one? Is it because we have already accepted that we can never be good enough?
There is one line of thinking that bothers me these days. It’s the repugnance of people to the idea of “being perfect”!
Rather than striving for perfection, we get this idea that “imperfection is beautiful”.
How can something imperfect be more beautiful than what’s perfect? How can we so easily accept less than what is best?
I’m not advocating perfectionism, which is the idea of trying to hold ourselves and other people to impossibly high standards. What I’m trying to promote is the kind of perfection that can only be attained through the grace of God.
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48 (NRSVCE)
This is the perfection we should all aspire to. The perfection of the saints who lived holy lives. The perfection of love that has completely emptied itself of all selfishness.
Because unless and until we attain this perfection, it would be utterly useless to live eternal lives
Even if science could one day give us a pill that could help us to live a thousand years, what good would such a long life be if we would just end up hurting each other?
We don’t know what we’re saying every time we discourage people from being perfect.
The truth is we want people to love us perfectly.
If we say that we can accept other people’s imperfections, up to what extent then? How many times can you possibly forgive? How tolerant would you like others to be?
We hate to talk about perfection but it is only perfection that can accept all of our imperfections.
That Perfect Love already came down from heaven, was crucified for our sins and forgave our every imperfection out of His perfectly loving heart. His was a heart pierced by our transgressions, wounded by our sorrows, and so perfectly compassionate that it could not hold back from giving everything it could.
In a world where you can be anything, strive for that one thing that only God could possibly give.
“The purpose of life is to achieve a perfect life, all truth and undying ecstatic love – which is the definition of God” – Fulton J. Sheen
You may also want to read “Can AIs Like ChatGPT Pose a Threat to the Catholic Faith?”
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of To Love an Invisible God and Defending My Catholic Faith. “You and I have been called to live at this very hour.” Do you have questions or doubts about the Catholic faith?
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