Whatsa Matta You

Practice does not always make you perfect

John 21:1-19

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

          Have you ever heard the adage: “Practice makes perfect”? If you’ve ever tried to play the piano, or dribble a basketball, or learn Latin, or serve a soufflé, someone probably told you, “Practice makes perfect.” But does practice always make you perfect? I don’t think so.

          Three engineers and three accountants were traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the 3 accountants each bought a ticket, but the engineers only bought one ticket for all three of them. One accountant asked, “How will you all travel with only one ticket?” An engineer answered, “Watch, and you’ll see.” They all boarded the train and the accountants found their seats, while the 3 engineers all crammed into a restroom. After the trained departed, the conductor, who collects tickets, knocked on the bathroom door and said, “Ticket, please.” The bathroom door opened slightly and a hand stuck out with one ticket. The conductor took the ticket and moved on. The accountants were impressed. After the conference, the accountants and engineers met again at the train station. This time the accountants agreed to buy only one ticket (you know how accountants are smart about money), but this time the engineers didn’t buy any ticket. One accountant asked, “How are you going to travel without any ticket?” An engineer answered, “Watch, and you’ll see.” When they boarded the train, the 3 accountants crammed into one of the bathrooms, and the 3 engineers climbed into another bathroom close by. The train departed. Shortly afterward, one of the engineers left the bathroom, walked over to where the accountants were hiding. He knocked on the door and said, “Ticket, please.” If you didn’t get that joke, you’re probably an accountant. Even though the accountants had practiced, it didn’t make them perfect. Practice doesn’t always make you perfect.

          In the gospel today, Jesus is finding the same disappointing results with his apostles: lots of practice but very little perfection. Now, understand the context of the gospel: Jesus has risen from the dead, an earth-shattering miracle, that has torn the fabric of the cosmos, opening the doors of heaven to all humanity. Not only that, but Jesus has astoundingly appeared to the apostles two times, even passing through locked doors. And Thomas has even put his hand into Jesus’ side and his finger into the nail-marks in his hands. And what to do the apostles do after all this? Peter says, “I’m going fishing.” And the others reply, “We’ll go with you.” They went fishing. Really? Practice did not make perfect. Then Jesus practices a little with Peter, teaching him to say “I love you” three times. But Peter’s love was not perfect either. Just like the three accountants on the train, the apostles practiced loving Jesus, but they were not perfect. Practice does not always make you perfect.

          Do you know that we priests also go to confession? Would you like to know what we say in confession? Yeah, I bet you would! You’ll have to become a priest to find out. I try to go to confession about every three months. Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa would go to confession every week. Makes you wonder: what did they do?? But I’ll never forget what one priest told me after I made a particularly heart-wrenching confession. He simply said: “That was a good confession.” Now, don’t misunderstand: he wasn’t saying that my sins were good; he was saying “practice does not make perfect.” In other words, you are not a perfect priest but you are a good priest. His words gave me a great deal of peace. We can’t be perfect Christians, but we can make perfect confessions.

          My friends, our culture is caught up with the pursuit of perfection. Do you get caught up in that pursuit, too? Are you trying to be a perfect Christian and never make a mistake? Do you have to have the perfect home or the perfect car? Do you need to send you children to the perfect school? (That would be Immaculate Conception, of course). Are you waiting to marry the perfect man, or wed the perfect woman? Do you kill yourself to have the perfect body, to make the perfect grades in school, to pitch the perfect game in baseball, to never get pulled over for speeding? You know, I had a teacher in high school who never gave his students a 100% on a paper they wrote, no matter how good it was. The best he would give you was a 99%. He explained, “You can always improve and do better. You’ll only be perfect in heaven.” Sometimes, we’re okay with not being perfect, but we want everyone else to be perfect! We want people in Fort Smith to stop running red lights, we want people to stop picking their nose in public, we want politicians to talk straight, and we want priests to give great sermons. We used to say, “I’m okay, you’re okay.” But today we say, “I’m okay, but you’re not okay.” Whatsa matta you??

          On Friday, Pope Francis released a new, major document on family life called “The Joy of Love,” where he cautioned us not to expect family life to be perfect. The Holy Father wrote: “No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love” (Amoris laetitia, 325). In other words, no family will get a 100% grade here on earth. The only perfect families are in heaven. And that, by the way, is where you’ll find the perfect Christians, too.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!