We all have an innate desire to be perfect. We certainly demand this of the others. Perhaps we ask ourselves less. But we all have this tendency towards perfection. This was the concern of the young man who asked Jesus in the Gospel today about how to enter into eternal life. Our Lord detected this desire in this person. He asked him to follow the commandments. The good man assented and acknowledged that he had been following the commandments. The thing is that he wanted to know what more he could do. What else? He felt he was still in an imperfect situation. Jesus prodded him, saying, "If you wish to be perfect..." We all want this because goodness requires at least some perfection. So, Our Lord asked him to sell all he had and give to the poor and to follow Him. He went away sad because he did not want to let go of his wealth. But notice the kind of perfection Jesus illustrated. It is the perfection of following Him. This is the meaning of perfection in our lives. Not just to be the best in playing the drums, not just being at the top of our professional field, and so forth.
