Catechesis: Monastic Vows

Furthermore, the precepts of God and true worship of God are obscured when people hear that only monks are in a state of perfection. For Christian perfection means earnestly to fear God and, at the same time, to have great faith and to trust that we have a gracious God on account of Christ; to ask for and to expect with certainty help from God in all things that are to be borne in connection with our calling; and in the meantime, diligently to do good works for others and serve in our calling. True perfection and true worship of God consist in all these things, not in celibacy, mendicancy, or shabby clothing.—AC XXVII:50,51 (Latin)