昨天是「主受洗節」，標誌著「聖誕期」的結束。我們在聖誕節慶祝耶穌降生；主受洗節則慶祝我們因聖洗而重獲新生。領過聖洗的教友，都有成聖的召叫，正如梵蒂岡第二次大公會議（梵二）文獻中，教會憲章第五章的主題特別強調：「普世成聖的召喚」。

梵二教會憲章指出，「任何身份或地位的基督信徒，都被召叫渡豐盈的基督徒生活及活出完美的愛德」。亞道夫.鄧奎利神父Fr. Adolphe Tanquerey在他的「神修生活Spiritual Life」一書中，列出「四內四外」共八種達致成聖的方法。

「四內」是：一、渴求完美；二、認識天主和自己；三、承行主旨；四、祈禱。

「四外」是：一、神修指導；二、生活規範；三、研讀聖書；四、聖化社交生活。

「四旬期」前的幾個「常年期」週，我們將分別探討這八個成聖的方法。本週，讓我們首先一談「渴求完美」，這是成聖不可或缺的第一步，也是保守聖善的不異竅門。

本質及質素

鄧奎利神父對「渴求完美」的定義是：「在天主聖寵內，矢志追求神修不斷的進步。」故此，「渴求完美」是天主聖寵與人的意志相互的產物。

「渴求完美」必須是超性的、優先的、持恆的和實在的，才能結出果實。

超性的是指動機和主體方面。動機要衍生自信德，主體要在天主的聖寵內。

優先的是指對成聖、完美的渴求，比對其它的渴求尤甚。

持恆的是指要經常自我醒覺，契而不捨地尋求神修上的進取。鄧神父提點說：「不要自詡進步，卻要更臻善美。不要注目別人的不足，卻要追趕他人的優勝。細看熱心的人或聖賢的芳表，特別要仰望耶穌基督，因為祂是我們真正的模範。」

我們對「完美」的渴求，要切實實踐，自會悟出其道。空談空想於事無補，在日常生活中坐言起行，在生活細節中付諸行動。「在小事上忠信的，在大事上也忠信。（路加福音16:10）」一絲不苟的實踐，會幫助保守對「完美」的渴求。

如何培植這份渴求

「渴求完美」植根和增長於默想和祈禱。聖言 —— 特別是福音和宗徒書信，富有「完美」的推動力，教會禮儀禱文助長我們神修進步的熱衷，閱讀和反思聖人的行實，對培養我們渴求完美，會有很大的幫助。

成聖能使我們對別人的得救作出更大的貢獻。我們為別人作使徒工作的成效是在於天主的恩寵；一個人越是聖善，越能相稱地成為天主恩寵的工具。富頓.舒意總主教Archbishop Fulton Sheen指出，在這過份世俗化的世界，「聖德生活」是信仰最有說服力的明証。

讓我們藉聖母和諸聖的轉禱，祈求天主增強我們對完美的渴求。

Yesterday was the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. This feast concluded the Christmas season. On Christmas we celebrated the birth of Jesus; yesterday we celebrated our own birth through baptism.

We, as baptized Catholics, are called to holiness. “The universal call to holiness” was a special emphasis of the Second Vatican Council. This theme was taken up in Chapter 5 of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, Lumen Gentium.

“All the faithful of Christ, of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium #40). In his book The Spiritual Life Father Adolphe Tanquerey lists eight general means of perfection: four interior means and four exterior means.

The four interior means are:desire for perfection, knowledge of God and of self, conformity to the divine will, and prayer. The four exterior means are: spiritual direction, a rule of life, spiritual readings and conferences, and sanctification of social relations.

In these few weeks of Ordinary time before Lent we are going to study each of the means of perfection. This week we are going to look at the desire for perfection; this is the first step toward perfection, and an indispensable condition for attaining it.

Nature and qualities

Father Tanquerey defines the desire for perfection as “an act of the will, which, under the influence of grace, ever seeks after spiritual progress.” Hence, this desire is born of the combined action of God’s grace and the human will.

In order to be fruitful, the desire for perfection must be supernatural, predominant, persevering, and practical.

It must be supernatural in both its motive and principle. The motive of the desire should spring from faith, and its principle is the grace of God.

“Predominant” means the desire for perfection must outdo in intensity any other desire. This desire should be persevering: the desire to do better must be renewed frequently. Father Tanquerey points out that “we must not consider the good we have achieved but the good that is yet to be accomplished; we must not look to those who do less than ourselves, but to those who do better, to the fervent, to the saints, and above all to Jesus Himself, our true model.”

Our desire for perfection must be practical. He who wills the end also wills the means. We should not only think about perfection, but should actually strive to achieve it in the ordinariness of daily life. “He who is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater” (Lk. 16:10). Fidelity in little things is indispensable for the attainment of perfection.

Means to foster desire

The desire for perfection takes root and grows mainly through meditation and prayer. Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels and the Epistles, are full of exhortations to perfection. The liturgical prayers of the Church help to kindle our desire for spiritual growth. Reading and reflection on the lives of the saints are tremendously helpful in fostering this desire.

The good of others should motivate us to desire perfection. The fruitfulness of our apostolic works depends on the grace of God. The holier we become, the more fitting we are to be instruments to apply God’s grace to others.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen pointed out that our world has become so secular that the most convincing argument for the faith is holiness of life.

Let us pray through the intercession of Our Lady and the saints for desire for perfection.