“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
THAT is impossible! God is so Holy that He is thrice Holy. That means He is the most Holy beyond all understanding. He is not just holy, He IS Holy.
Oh well, that sells it for me! I’m out! Jesus says to gain Heaven, one must be Holy as God is Holy. I’m out. I can’t even be good, let alone holy and more so, Holy as God is Holy. I can’t even go a day or an hour without sinning. I’m out.
Yes that is all true, but…
“What God commands he makes possible by his grace.” Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2082
This is where grace and mercy come into the equation.
God calls each soul to be at His side, that is, to be a saint. That means to be holy and perfect. He knows that this call to perfect holiness is beyond us. We can’t even fathom the meaning let alone attain this lofty height.
Jesus came through the manger that He might give us guidance and divine wisdom, a roadmap to holiness. Of course, what good is a roadmap without a destination – holiness and perfection. Then, He died upon the cross that all our stains may be wiped away. Through the blood and water that flowed from His Sacred Heart, we are washed that we may turn our eyes to seek God. Still not able to get to “holy as your Heavenly Father is Holy”, Jesus showed us the message of Divine Mercy through St. Faustina. He gives us His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity to transfuse our soul through the Eucharist. He gives us a divine eraser, a perfect dye that cleanses our scarlet souls to be white again as wool. And, still not able to get there, He gives us His grace. Divine Grace to make what we can’t do alone, possible. And, yet still, God gives us His promise.
“What God commands he makes possible…”
He calls us to be His children, to be His saints. What God commands, He makes possible – through super abundant and overwhelming grace, and an ocean of mercy.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30