That Means A Lot

I want to wish a happy birthday to Fr. Eric Knapp, the pastor at St. Xavier Church here in Cincinnati. I say “here” because as I write this, I am in Cincinnati filling in for Fr. Eric who took the week off to get away. I am happy to take his morning Mass and the round of Confessions afterwards. In fact, this morning was a rather light flow of penitents, so there were a few minutes when I sat in the confession box waiting for the next person to enter. As I did so, I was listening to the noon Mass going on out in the church, and I could hear Fr. Joe (a Jesuit friend of mine) as he preached his homily. He said a few words that stuck with me, and I wrote them down because they meant a lot to me. He said, “I have always liked the saying ‘progress over perfection.’ In fact, I think the word ‘perfection’ is the worst word in the English language. None of us is perfect.” Joe’s words rang true. God does not see us as perfect, in fact he sees us with all our our weaknesses, and He graces us with strength to move ahead (progress) however we can each day. Progress means a lot more than perfection. It means we are still on the journey, still in need of God’s help, and still hope-filled for that perfect destiny (Heaven) which is God-given, not something we gain for ourselves.