In this episode, we unpack the true meaning of the road to perfection in the spiritual life. Tracing the word back to its Latin and Greek roots (perfectio, perficere, telos), we discuss how perfection is not a static endpoint but a complete action with ongoing results. Using a sports analogy, we explore the difference between quantitative capacity and qualitative greatness. We then turn to the wisdom of St. John of the Cross and St. Thérèse of Lisieux to understand how a continuous desire to serve God, not achieving flawless moments, is the true path to union with Him.

Key Topics Discussed:

  • The etymology of perfection (perfectio and telos) and what it implies.
  • Analogies from sports regarding capacity, potential, and qualitative greatness.
  • How the grammar of Christ’s final words on the cross ("It is finished") reveals the nature of a completed action with continuing impact.
  • St. John of the Cross on the continuous desire to serve God as the true measure of perfection.
  • The difference between our objective spiritual reality and subjective experience.
  • St. Thérèse of Lisieux's teaching on perfection: simply being who God calls us to be.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello there, welcome to this episode of Midnight Carmelite. So I want to talk about the road to perfection. And I'm going to briefly talk about what I mean by that and how it relates to our daily spiritual life. Like, what do I mean by perfection? How does it apply day to day, practically? And I'm also going to talk about how we can view ourselves in light of what perfection really is. Okay, so let's start with what perfection is.

The word perfection comes from the Latin word perfectio, which is from the verb perficere, which is to bring to an end. So what does it mean to bring to an end? Well, to bring to an end means to think of it like a gauge. But this is a quantitative analogy. So when you watch a sporting event, let's say you're watching a really great basketball player like Michael Jordan, for example. There's all the debate about who's the greatest of all time. We're not going to get into that here; just for argument's sake, say Michael Jordan is one of the greatest, if not the greatest. Because we're simply talking about qualitative greatness here. You can watch him in clips on YouTube on the court and see that he is operating at full capacity. In other words, based on his capacity and talent for basketball, he is operating—not only is his capacity large, so the gauge itself, the potential for being filled, is large—but through practice, hard work, and day to day, he's filled the gauge. So then when you see him operating in basketball, you're like, "This guy is the greatest." So we're talking about how, from all his hard work and practice, and God-given gifts and talents that he has, he's operating in perfection. He's complete.

Now, here's the thing. If you talk to someone in sports, having played sports myself, there's always room to improve, right? People will say, "You're so wonderful at whatever," but the real top-tier people know that yes, you may be top-tier in qualitative greatness and perfection in how much you've developed it, but there's always more. You could always be better; you could always refine your technique. So then it's not a binary point like, "I have reached perfection, and now I'm at the end." You're always kind of fighting forward, if that makes sense. You're always pushing and going, and you have some idea of your capacity, but there's no way of you knowing where this is going to end.

Now, grammatically, perfection or telos in Greek—you know, perfectio, telos—it's saying this action is completed but is having results currently ongoing in the present. So what would be a good example of that? Well, Christ on the cross when He says, "It is finished." In the Greek, they're using what's called the perfect tense, which is exactly what I just said. The action is complete, the gauge is full, the qualitative greatness has operated, our redemption happened, and then He gives up His spirit. But that redemption is having continuous results to this day.

So how does this relate to what we're talking about here? St. John of the Cross says that perfection is not the acquisition of a few moments, nor does God require an immediate perfection—and then he says earlier, unless a special grace is given by God. God is delighted with the soul's continued desire to serve Him, and thus obtain a closer union. So the point is that our desire to serve throughout our spiritual life, and moving forward on that, practicing, like a sports game, that's the road to our perfection. There may come points where in your spiritual life it is up and down, where you have lows and you have highs. Now you can have spiritual lows and highs, like if you're in the dark night it would be a spiritual low by experience, but a metaphysical high because you're being purified. So there's a distinction between the reality of what's going on in your spiritual life, meaning how your spiritual life exists by virtue of you existing, and then also your subjective experience of it. That's a big discussion in spiritual theology.

So we have to remember that we can't beat ourselves up if we're striving to serve God, because like St. John of the Cross said, that continued desire is the real measure. Are you wanting to serve God, but then you back off a little bit because you'd rather serve yourself? That's kind of amateur hour in the spiritual life. If you're finding in your examination of conscience that you're serving God, but then there are other times where knowingly you're like, "Yeah, God says this, but I'm going to go in this direction because it's better for me"—I mean, that's amateur hour.

But then you have to remember too, on the other hand, St. Thérèse of Lisieux talks about this: perfection consists in doing God's will and being who He wants you to be. You don't have to write the greatest book of all time or be a super saint like Pope St. John Paul the Great, or Gregory the Great, or Thomas Aquinas, or John of the Cross, or Teresa of Avila, or Catherine of Siena, or Thérèse of Lisieux, or Hildegard of Bingen. We're not them. We're called to be who God calls us to be. And if you have a continued desire to serve Him, that's your path to closer union with God in your life. So I just wanted to make those remarks about that, and I hope you found it helpful.

If the philosophy and mystical theology we covered today resonated with you, you know that understanding the dark night is only half the battle. You don't need more devotions to try and force the old feelings to return. You need a field guide for the void. The Midnight Compass is my bi-weekly navigational tool where I give you the exact translations and the specific reflect, pray, act disciplines to turn your daily silence into presence and an encounter. You do not have to walk this path without a map. You can find the link to the Compass in the show notes.