Nobody’s Perfect

At a large University graduation exercise, the University President rose to address the graduates and confer the degrees. He began by explaining the meaning of the traditional Latin phrases used …

If a student graduates “Cum Laude,” it means “With Honors.” If a student graduates “Magna Cum Laude” it means “With High Honors.” If a student graduates “Summa Cum Laude” it means “With Supreme Honors.”

Then he said, “There’s a new honor I plan to use in the future to be called “Magna Cum Pellidentium.” It means, “By the skin of your teeth.”1

In the Lenten Season which will soon begin, the call to repentance is emphasized. It is a time to take stock of what we’ve been doing with our lives. It is a time to evaluate spiritual progress. And, in so doing, it becomes a time to acknowledge that, in terms of our life in the “Divinely Created School of Learning How To Love,” we have yet to graduate with honors. The…