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!
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