Perfect – Is it God’s Simple
Plan
by Dcn. Jim Corder
3 Questions to Ponder:
How close to perfect does God expect you to be?
What can you do to show God that you truly love Him?
How would you describe your relationship with God?
Hey Dad, look at me.
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
And do you think I'm wasting my time...
Doing things I wanna do
But it hurts when you disapprove all along.
The First Commandment says that you should love God with all your mind,
body and soul. When we hear this, it sounds like we must be "perfect"
in order to follow this commandment, so this month let us take a closer
look at what loving God really means. The song "Perfect", by
Simple Plan, addresses a relationship between a young man and his father,
so let’s see how this song helps us to better understand our relationship
with God.
When we look at this I think we need to answer the question, "How
do I love God with my mind, body, and soul?" These are the three
parts of our being that God wants us to have in our relationship with
Him -- so let's look at each of these aspects of life.
Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Mind
Without
being perfect, we can give God our mind -- at least most of the time.
In any relationship we must think about the other. If you are in love
with someone, you will spend time trying to figure out how to make the
other person happy. What would the other person want you to be thinking
about? What should you remove from your mind, knowing that God would not
appreciate you thinking about it?
We should spend our energy thinking about our love for God and how to
express our love for Him in actions. One difference between our relationship
with God and our relationships with others is that God knows everything.
God knows every thought we ever have!
Nothing's gonna change the things that you said
Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard just to talk to you
But you don't understand
Body
You may wonder how you can use your body to express your love for God.
This is probably the easiest. When we pray, we use our bodies to posture
ourselves in a way in which it is easier to pray. Kneeling, or whatever
way helps us to pray, is using our body. Our bodies are what we use to
act out the love we have for anyone. God is no different. When consumed
by our love for God, it will cause us to act. The way we treat others,
the way we help someone in need, the way we serve others in the name of
God -- all are done with our bodies.
Our bodies help us to put the faith of our mind and soul into practice.
We can think and we can pray, but if it doesn’t go into action,
is it really the love that we say it is? Remember -- actions speak louder
than thoughts or words. How should you express your love for God? "Just
do it!" Do what it is that you know is the right thing to do.
I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero?
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore
Soul
Our souls are what lie within us, and God can enter into them and change
us forever. When we act out what we believe to be the right action, it
feeds our soul. When we pray, it is our soul communicating with God. Prayer
and communication with God helps us to know what to think about, so we
know how to act. As Catholics, we feed our souls every time we receive
the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. Feeding our souls is an
essential part of loving God.
These three aspects -- mind, body, and soul -- are like a three-legged
stool. If one of them is out of balance, then we are out of balance.
They are all three very important, and each of them calls for a response
by the other two. The key to being in love with God is trying to work
it so that using all three are part of our daily lives.
And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't pretend that I'm alright
And you can't change me
Here is some good news: We are called to keep trying!
God understands our weaknesses, failures and imperfections. God understands
that we are not doing what we are supposed to do 24 hours a day. He understands
that we are not praying as we should. God knows all of this. Our God knows
that we will fall short of the ideal. But we are called to keep trying
-– to always start over and do the best we can. As Mother Teresa
once said, "We are not called to be successful. We are called to
be faithful!" Simply keep trying, trusting in His mercy and grace.
After all, that is what loving God is all about.
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