Do you have any perfectionists in your life? I do. Aren't they fun? In truth, they do take up a lot of oxygen and are just downright infuriating at times. Mild perfectionism - ok - but full-blown exuberant perfectionism is just annoying, infuriating, and difficult to be around. Life is too short. The quotation above this paragraph is the well-known statement of Voltaire who clearly must have known some of the same people that I know.
What does this have to do with Lent? Possibly a great deal. We can ponder perfectionism in ourself - or we can think about it in terms of the Church. In my life, I come across lots of people, nice people, happy people, sometimes morose people, sometimes angry people, sometimes discouraged people, and sometimes, in fact quite often, joyful people. In the course of conversations, many of these people talk about problems that they have with the Church. "I like this." "I don't like that." "This is wonderful." "This is ridiculous." "What were they thinking of?" "I love being a Catholic." "Why does anyone stay in the Church?" "Even though I don't agree with everything, it is my spiritual home." "Why does the Church teach this? This needs to be changed." (Sometimes, I just want to say - I did not do this - I did not make this up - Why don't you talk to Jesus since this came from him." And so on. And endless varieties of these comments or questions. Some people are just picking a fight (clearly not parishioners). I try not to engage. Some are just genuinely troubled or concerned - I always value their sharing. Often our role is to struggle with these things together.
I wonder if people do not appreciate the complexity of a Church with 1.3 billion members - with over 2000 years of strong history and traditions, conflicts, saints, and sinners. Jesus is the head of the Church. The pope is his representative on earth. Jesus is divine. The pope is human - and so are the rest of the 1.3 billion members.
I will admit that sometimes it is tough to deal with these things. I cannot imagine how the pope leads the Church. It seems just an impossible task. But somehow good is actually accomplished. Great and holy things are done. Even sinners are called to better lives. And, admittedly, things can get messed up as well. And we pick ourselves up and keep going.
A wise friend of mine remarked many years ago: "If you have think that the Catholic Church is not perfect, then, by all means, go and join another church. But, realize that the day you join, that other church will no longer be perfect!" Not a bad observation.
My point - sometimes, we need to be gentle with each other. We're all imperfect. We're all sinners. We need God's help. We try to do our best. God understands this. Do you?
TODAY's GRATITUDE - I am grateful when I can relax enough to not try to be perfect!