A Good Christian is not
Perfect - Healing Prayer Service Reflection
(Inspired by Fr. Richard Rohr)
Act on this word. If all you do is listen to
it, you are deceiving yourselves. There is, on the other hand, the man who
peers into freedom’s ideal law and abides by it. He is no forgetful listener,
but one who carries out the law in practice. Blest will this man be in whatever
he does. (James 1:22,25)
To be a good Christian is not about being perfect. Fr. Richard Rohr writes that to be a Christian is to seek union with God. St. James writes - Act
on this word.
This is where we find healing. Take action by professing Christ and claiming his healing.
Act on the word of God. Taking
action is the path to union. It is entirely different from being perfect. A union
with God creates a very different person in of us. It brings us patience, forgiveness,
and compassion. It integrates us into God’s will.
That is so different than what
the world wants. The world wants to bring us into the world’s will. In our perfection we can solve our own problems, heal ourselves. It's an
appeal to our ego that is actually a self-defeating search for perfection in
ourselves.
We can never realize perfection.
When people realize they’ll never be perfect in their
ego, they give up on God. No one can be perfect except the one who was born
perfect, Jesus Christ. Yet, through him, all can find union with God.
Union knows God's compassion,
mercy, forgiveness, and freedom. The man who peers into
freedom’s ideal law and abides by it is blest in whatever he does. We
know God by union with God. We know God by participation in God. We know God
through Christ, prayers, and sacraments.
We know God in our imperfection,
trials, and our suffering. Act on this word. Seek union with God in our imperfection. Because, we will never come to know God seeking our own perfection.
St. Therese of Liseaux wrote, "Jesus,
… unite me so closely with you that you live and act in me."
Achieving union with God is
our ultimate healing. Take action by professing Christ and claiming his healing. Act on this word.
Amen
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