--- title: "Yearning for Perfection: Did Jesus ever Long for Home?" description: A perfect afternoon at a bridal shower led Susan Bailey to wonder about God's perfection--and our own idea of perfection. --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/04/11/yearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home#) # Yearning for Perfection: Did Jesus ever Long for Home? Apr 11, 2017 10:00:26 AM  |  by [Susan Bailey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/susan-bailey) A couple of weeks ago our family and friends gathered to give our daughter Meredith a bridal shower. We had the entire first floor of the Asa Waters mansion in Millbury, MA for the event. Tables were set up in the gracious hall, food was served in the elegant dining room, and drinks were offered in an adjoining room. Gifts were displayed on the winding staircase. The theme of the shower was Harry Potter, brilliantly executed by Meredith’s matron of honor, Roxanne, and her bridesmaids. For our entertainment there were games and a photo booth with a glittery gold backdrop; masks were provided to don for comical photos, many of which were posted on Facebook pages. [!["Yearning for Perfection" by Susan Bailey (CatholicMom.com)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shower.jpg?width=720&height=720&name=shower.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shower.jpg) Copyright 2017 Susan Bailey. All rights reserved. Meredith and her fiance Jimmy opened the many gifts and were overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of their family and friends. The whole affair was perfection. All I wanted to do when it was over was to relive the day again and again. Yet I had an odd reaction of sadness after the shower. It felt very similar to the days when both the children moved out of the house for good, leaving a void that would never again be filled. As on those days, I went to Meredith’s room and had a good cry. In reflecting upon those emotions I thought about other momentous occasions in my children’s lives. The day they were born. Their first day in kindergarten. School plays. Graduation from high school, and then college. Meredith’s engagement. Important days, to be sure. And yet none of those days conjured up the sadness and yearning I felt after the bridal shower. Why was that? Perfection in life is rare, one might even say impossible. You recognize it when you are living in a perfect moment and you know it is something that will never happen again. It is fleeting; it cannot be held onto or possessed. It is to be lived only to slip away out of our grasp. We are left with the shadow of a fading memory. And it occurred to me that I was mourning the loss of perfection. For three hours I was able to experience it, only to have it end. Things of this world are temporary; everything decays and dies. I began to wonder how Adam and Eve felt after leaving the Garden of Eden—did they mourn their loss of perfection? During His time on earth, did Jesus long for home? Did He too experience times of melancholy and yearning, remembering his existence of perfection? [tweet "We were misled into thinking perfection meant *being* God rather than being *with* God. By @susanbailey"] We were meant for perfection; created in the Garden of Eden we were destined to live in sublime harmony with our Heavenly Father. Somewhere along the way we were misled into thinking perfection meant *being* God rather than being *with* God. And now we are left with the shadow of the memory of perfection. And once in a great while, we taste it, reminding us perhaps of we had lost in our arrogance. We mourn the loss, we hunger for home, we yearn for what we were meant to be. The words of St. Augustine are true: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Meredith’s bridal shower was a gift of grace, a moment to remind me of what perfection can be like. And why it is worth enduring life’s trials in faith to reach that final goal of perfection—the reunion with God which will last for all eternity. Only then will our restless hearts be satisfied. *Copyright 2017 Susan Bailey* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F04%2F11%2Fyearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F04%2F11%2Fyearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F04%2F11%2Fyearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Yearning%20for%20Perfection%3A%20Did%20Jesus%20ever%20Long%20for%20Home%3F) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F04%2F11%2Fyearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F04%2F11%2Fyearning-perfection-jesus-ever-long-home%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Susan Bailey](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/susan_bailey1.jpg) ### [Susan Bailey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/susan-bailey) Susan Bailey is the author of *River of Grace: Creative Passages Through Difficult Times* (Ave Maria Press), and *Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message* (ACTA Publications), part of their Literary Portals to Prayer series. Along with her blogs Be as One and Louisa May Alcott is My Passion, Susan writes for the Diocese of Worcester newspaper, *The Catholic Free Press*. ## Related Blog Articles [ "The Heart of Perfection" Speaks to a Stickler's Heart Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2019/06/10/the-heart-of-perfection-speaks-to-a-sticklers-heart/) [ Seeking to be Perfected, Not Seeking to Demand Perfection by Sherry Antonetti Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2010/05/18/seeking-to-be-perfected-not-seeking-to-demand-perfection-by-sherry-antonetti) [ God Wants Us to Be Perfect, Not Perfectionists Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/god-wants-us-to-be-perfect-not-perfectionists) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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