De cetero, fratres, gaudete, perfecti estote, exhortamini invicem, idem sapite, pacem habete, et Deus dilectionis et pacis erit vobiscum. (II Cor 13:11)
"The second imperative 'perfecti estote', as we read in the Latin text, seems to coincide with the words that sum up the Sermon on the Mount: 'perfecti estote sicut Pater vester caelestis perfectus est'. These words invite us to be what we are: images of God, beings created in relation to the Lord, "mirrors" where the Lord's light is reflected.
"Not to live Christianity according to the letter, not to understand Sacred Scripture according to the letter is often difficult, historically disputable; but we must go beyond the letter, our present reality, towards the Lord who speaks to us and hence, to union with God.
However, if we see the Greek text, we find another verb, 'catartizesthe', and this word means to restore or repair an instrument, to make it function properly again. The most frequent example for the Apostles was mending a fishing net that was no longer in proper condition, that had so many holes in it that it could no longer be used; they had to repair the net so it could once again be used for fishing, restored to its perfect state as a tool for this trade.
"Another example: music can no longer be played properly on a stringed instrument with a broken string.
"So in this imperative our soul is like an apostolic net but one that is frequently of little use because our own intentions have made a tear in it; or it is like a musical instrument that unfortunately has several broken strings, so that God's music which should echo in the depths of our soul can no longer ring out. We must repair this instrument, be familiar with its broken parts, the destruction, the negligence, the omissions, and seek to make it perfect and complete so that it will serve the purpose for which the Lord created it.
"So it is that this imperative can also be an invitation to the regular examination of conscience, to see how this instrument of mine is going, to what point it has been neglected or is no longer in working order, in the attempt to make it function properly again. It is also an invitation to have recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where God himself repairs the instrument and restores us to integrity, perfection and functionality, so that in this soul praise of God may once again ring out."
(Benedict XVI, From the Meditation on the Opening of the 11th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Celebration of the Third Hour. 3 October 2005
My daughter, better consider the value of the present moment, the danger of a return to the past, and the uselessness of a glance at the future. Live the present moment simply and lovingly. (Locution to Gabriela Bossis, God's Spiritual Direction (Messages from Heaven). Transl. Fr Adolf Faroni, SDB. Manila: Don Bosco Press, 2000, p 110)
I do not ask that you be angels. I ask you to be holy according to your nature. (Locution to Gabriela Bossis, God's Spiritual Direction (Messages from Heaven). Transl. Fr Adolf Faroni, SDB. Manila: Don Bosco Press, 2000, p 8)
Offer frequently your death, every day, as I offer mine everyday to My Father. ... Make frequent rehearsals of it. (Locution to Gabriela Bossis, God's Spiritual Direction (Messages from Heaven). Transl. Fr Adolf Faroni, SDB. Manila: Don Bosco Press, 2000, p 10)
10* "I the LORD search the mind and try the heart,
to give to every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings."
(Jeremiah 17:10)