For Catholics who are truly interested in living happy lives as God intended for them in and from the beginning, it would be beneficial to listen and carefully consider something Jesus taught his disciples.
For example, in today’s gospel, Jesus said:
No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.
Consider the image Jesus presents: What farmer ever sets out to plow a field looking backwards? The outcome would be comical, wouldn’t it? Zig-zagged rows dotted with other, bizarre formations. Imagine trying to plant that so-called “plowed field”!
Yet, as comical as that image is, that’s precisely how “sleepy” Catholics spend most of their days. Rather than looking forward to the future and its possibilities for the good that they can accomplish each day, “sleepy” Catholics spend each day looking backwards and brooding over the past that cannot be changed. Intent upon those failures, “sleepy” Catholics spend their days filled with feelings of remorse, guilt, blame-finding, and even loss over “what was” in the past and “could have been, if only.” They’re reliving all of that as today’s “what is” and are unwilling to let go of the past with all its woes and move into the future assisted by God’s grace with all its wonderful possibilities.
Measuring everything and everybody, including themselves, against law of “perfection,” “sleepy” Catholics get frustrated and decide to give up on striving for “excellence” in life. ” While it’s true, as “sleepy” Catholics are wont to retort in their self-defense, Jesus did teach his disciples “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” that’s a goal—something good, worthy of seeking, and for which sacrifice is required. Before setting a goal, however, it’s important to make sure one possesses in sufficient measure the wherewithal it will take to achieve that goal. Otherwise, not possessing sufficient “right stuff,” one is doomed to failure and likely to endure a ration of self-inflicted finger wagging and self-inflicted “I told you so’s.”
That’s no way to set out to achieve such a worthy and noble goal as to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Notice: Jesus identified the goal for his disciples. But, lest any of us forget, God has created each of us humanoids as imperfect and fallible creatures. That fact alone requires us to develop the capability to achieve the goal efficiently and effectively. It may very well be the case that although none of us will ever achieve that goal in our lifetime, it is possible for every one of us to look forward and to move forward in the direction of achieving it during our lifetime.
We do that, Jesus taught his disciples in today’s gospel, not by “looking to what was left behind.” Or, as life has a way of teaching us, “You can’t ever return to home.”
Hence, we need to differentiate between the goal—to be perfect as God is perfect—and the means to that goal—to hone excellence each day moving forward as a creature of God.
What, then, is “excellence”?
While excellence is measured individually—each of us can only become the excellent person God has created us to be given our talents, abilities, interests, and the like—words like “outstanding,” “extremely good,” and “superior” in comparison to some external standard oftentimes come to mind. In that sense, excellence might be defined, as Wikipedia does, as “a talent or quality which is unusually good and surpasses ordinary standards.”
Each of us can distinguish ourselves every day in that way—becoming unusually good and surpassing ordinary standards in our own, unique way…as spouses, parents, and members of our family as well as neighbors, co-workers, and students.
In this sense, pursuing excellence doesn’t denote becoming like anyone else. In fact, that’s the antithesis of excellence. Instead, excellence denotes becoming who each of us is as distinct individuals—as God has created us—who is conspicuous—each in his or her unique way—not clones of one another or categories of other folks. Or, in the words of Frances Ethel Gumm—better known as Judy Garland, the character “Dorothy Gale” in the “Wizard of Oz”:
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
That said, there are some universal characteristics those who seek excellence exhibit:
- they view life as a journey and each day as a new beginning.
- they live “in the zone,” exuding confidence;
- they put in the effort required and taking risks;
- they are spontaneous, accepting of what life throws their way, open to being wrong and to learn from it; and,
- they encourage others to be their best.
In sum, those who seek excellence surrender to and accept an undeniable fact: They’re imperfect, fallible creatures.
What differentiates these folks from others is how they don’t allow those imperfections, fallibility, and failures to derail them from pursuing excellence. They strive each day to be a “first-rate version” of themselves, as Judy Garland observed.
Understanding what excellence is, it’s easy to grasp how many Catholics have become “sleepy” Catholics. They use “perfect”—an external standard of measuring up to others’ expectations, for example, Jesus’ “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”—and experience frustration, repeatedly failing to become something they aren’t. Looking to their past, they survey a field littered with failure upon failure as they stive to be perfect to please themselves by pleasing others. That’s their sole focus because “sleepy” Catholics have set for themselves an unrealistic and demanding goal that’s accompanied with the disposition to regard any failure as unacceptable and a sign of personal unworthiness.
Whether its source is internal (e.g., feelings of inferiority) or external (e.g., social media), perfection requires being flawless by comparing oneself to others by aiming to measure up to their standard…living as a “second-rate version of somebody else,” as Judy Garland observed. That’s not virtuous and can lead to some very deleterious outcomes. For example, seeking perfection correlates with and predicts increased depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts in both adolescents and adults.
Sadly, although Frances Ethel Gumm received critical acclaim for many different roles throughout her career—she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in 1954, for Best Supporting Actress in 1961, starred in an Emmy-nominated television series, and at age 39 became the youngest and first female recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment”—Gumm never achieved the perfection and recognition for it from her peers she desired so deeply.
Apparently, Gumm was affected by this internal pressure from the time she was a teenager. Then, as a young adult, continuous criticism from studio executives who believed Gumm was physically unattractive and manipulated her on-screen physical appearance convinced Gumm that alcohol and substance abuse—driving her into financial instability and the failure to pay taxes—provided a way out. Unfortunately, it didn’t, leading her to commit an accidental barbiturate overdose and death at age 47.
Gumm never would experience what she so deeply desired in life. Posthumously, she was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, several of her recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the American Film Institute ranked Gumm eighth on its list of the top-25 greatest screen legends of the “Golden Age of Hollywood.”
Similar to Frances Ethel Gumm, even as “sleepy” Catholics try to do what’s right, looking backwards upon their past fills them with anger and frustration. Those feelings increase the pressure and stress that “sleepy” Catholics experience, wanting to be in control of themselves and trying to remain in control. Yet, experience teaches “sleepy” Catholics they’re ultimately not in control because they can’t achieve the goal they’ve set for themselves.
Comparing and contrasting excellence and perfection, it’s easy to appreciate why “sleepy” Catholics like Frances Ethel Gumm ask themselves “Why should I even try?” After all, they readily admit, “Every time I sincerely do try to become perfect, I fail.” Fixated upon the past, it’s also easy to appreciate how “sleepy” Catholics eventually conclude that God has judged them to be miserable failures and unworthy of salvation.
Yet, “sleepy” Catholics continue to seek the end, perfection, and some even struggle valiantly to overcome the fact they’re imperfect, which is to say they spend their days denying their nature as imperfect creatures. When this desire consumes “sleepy” Catholics, they allow their imperfections, shortcomings, and failures to derail them from pursuing their goal which, of course, becomes a spiritual pathology because none of us can ever become what we aren’t.
Three centuries before Jesus, Aristotle called the pursuit of excellence a “habit” not a single act. What Aristotle meant is that it’s important not to make “excellence” the enemy of the “perfect” by believing the latter is achieved before the former. For “WOKE” Catholics, what Aristotle taught his disciples was to avoid confusing excellence with perfection because, as Michael J. Fox has noted, excellence is to seek to achieve one’s fullest potential—to achieve one’s personal, subjective excellence—and in this way, to experience true happiness, which is “the possession of that which can never be taken away.”
To sum up:
- When we strive for perfection—which isn’t virtuous—we seek to please ourselves and others not God who created us.
- When we strive for excellence—which is virtuous—they seek to please God who created them as imperfect and fallible creatures.
Seeking excellence is how “WOKE” Catholics strive to pattern how they will live each day. “WOKE” Catholics realize they’re God’s creatures whose goal is to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. Setting this goal for themselves, “WOKE” Catholics accept their fallibility and imperfection as that’s measured against God’s perfection. But rather than be obsessed by failure to meet this exacting standard in individual acts, “WOKE” Catholics seek excellence in small ways to strengthen their willpower so that excellence becomes habitual over time.
For example, “WOKE” Catholics:
- strive and struggle without doubting themselves;
- despite temptation and failure, they remain calm and ready themselves for the struggle anew;
- they’re sincere, amenable, calm, and compassionate with others because they realize they’re also tempted and prone to failure;
- they possess resolve and zeal, exhibiting courage and trustworthiness, in seeking their goal;
- they’re generous, respectful, and loyal to others and without malice because they’ve experienced God’s generosity, respect, and loyalty in forgiving them frequently in the Sacrament of Penance.
The spiritual and moral difference between “sleepy” and “WOKE” Catholics couldn’t be clearer, could it?
“Sleepy” Catholics:
- seek God’s approval, believing if they are good enough, God will love them;
- failure reveals personal defects which demonstrate a lack—not being “good enough” to merit God’s love—providing God yet another reason to reject them;
- are fragile in the sense that they spend their days protecting themselves form failure when, as fallible and imperfect creatures, that’s not only impossible but wears them down psychically, only increasing the likelihood they’ll fail yet again; and,
- they masquerade as virtuous when the pathway they’ve chosen to achieve that isn’t virtuous because “sleepy” Catholics deny a fundamental truth of their existence.
In contrast, “WOKE” Catholics:
- know God loves them and strive to improve themselves in light of their experience of God’s love for them;
- they pursue the pathway of holiness of life for the reason of personal integrity not moral righteousness—believing not that success defines them but the process of striving for excellence provides instructive lessons about what they need to learn about themselves to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect;
- being goal-oriented, they pursue their goals irrespective of how others may judge their failures; and,
- they embrace the truth, demonstrate courage, persistence, and resilience by using failure as a feedback loop to engage anew in seeking excellence as a child of God.
As imperfect creatures, it’s almost natural for human beings to assess how others perceive them. Nowhere is this more true than when human beings assess how God judges them. Yet, when they live in fear of God’s negative and harsh judgment, happiness, risk-taking—especially the risk to love God and neighbor—ingenuity, and creativity erode. That makes it easy to forget that excellence as a human being requires looking forward and pursuing the pathway of holiness of life to become a saint who, one day in the perfection of God our Father, will achieve perfection as a Saint in heaven.
That provides our challenge for this week from today’s scripture readings: To appreciate better our nature as imperfect and fallible beings and to become more honest about our imperfections and failures.
That will require each of us to conduct a two-part memento mori each day this week:
- Beginning tonight, before falling asleep each night perform an examination of conscience. The purpose for this examen isn’t to condemn ourselves but to assess honestly how we fell short of the goal of excellence today…just one way. This awareness will assist us to appreciate better and learn not to fear our nature as imperfect and fallible beings but to become more honest about out imperfections and failures. Then, conclude by asking God for the grace that’s needed to overcome that imperfection.
- Upon awaking each morning this week, recall that one failure from the day before and ask God once again for the grace to overcome that imperfection and, then, commit to not repeating it during the upcoming day.
Practiced regularly, this memento mori will inculcate the spiritual discipline within each of us to develop a greater awareness of the crucial difference between striving for “perfection” and “excellence.” Rather than looking backwards each day upon our past failures, we will learn to look forward each day to achieve excellence, awakening from our slumber—that of being “sleepy” Catholics—and becoming more perfectly “WOKE” Catholics, people of faith who don’t waste their time living a “telescope faith” looking for the God somewhere up in the sky. Instead, we will root each day more consciously in what Isaiah prophesied on Christmas Eve—“He shall be named ‘Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us’”—and this week, is walking alongside us as we move in the direction of achieving excellence and becoming more perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
In his way, we will put aside worldly concerns—especially our imperfections and fallibility that can weigh us down—as we recall Jesus’ teaching and experience the foretaste and promise of the true happiness that is found in God:
No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.
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