The Lord has made living the Christian life humanly impossible. We must be made perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). We must become holy in every aspect of our conduct (1 Pt 1:15) or we will not see God (Heb 12:14), that is, we will not see Jesus face to face in heaven (see 1 Cor 13:12). Furthermore, we must be compassionate as our Father is compassionate (Lk 6:36) and pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3). If we fall into sin on one point of God's law, we become guilty on all counts (Jas 2:10).

Because living the Christian life is humanly impossible, most people don't even try. Some are honest enough to admit that they don't try. Others try to water down Christianity to make it more humanly possible, and then rationalize their lukewarmness (see Rv 3:16). Some even try to live Christianity by their own power. They eventually get frustrated and burn out. At this point, they are tempted to dismiss Christianity completely. Instead, they should come to Jesus and learn from Him (Mt 11:28-29). Jesus will teach us that Christianity is not a do-it-yourself religion, but one in which we let it be done to us (see Lk 1:38). Then the burden of Christianity, while still humanly impossible, is easy and light (Mt 11:30).

Rescript:  †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, January 4, 2008

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