Pat Arensberg: Be Perfect

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.”  -Luke 12:2-3

Ouch!  I don’t know about you, but I am a sinner.  I really don’t want all of my sins proclaimed from the housetops.  And this brings us to a very primary matter that is a difference between Catholic theology and most protestant theology.  Specifically, the question of human anthropology needs to be addressed.  Are we basically good, but fallen, or are we completely depraved by virtue of the fall?  Catholic theology says we are basically good, but fallen.  Further, it teaches us that Christ came to make all things new.  Our eternal destiny is to be perfect as the Father is perfect (see Matthew 5:48).  

We are much less embarrassed by a sin that we have overcome than by a sin that still has power over us.  A recovering alcoholic who has been sober for many years actually sees the sins of their past life as something that they are proud to have overcome with the help of Christ.  They are much less embarrassed by the sin.  An alcoholic who is not sober is much more affected by the sin and the publication of the sin.  My point is this, when we are perfected our deeds of darkness no longer have power over us.  They will be seen as stepping stones to the Father.  But this is only possible if we are in fact perfected.  Thus the need for purgatory.  I am not perfect.  If I go to heaven without being perfected my sin still has a certain power over me.  God wants so much more for me than that.  He wants me to live in freedom.  Thank you God!!

About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.