Practice Makes Perfect
Deacon Ray Ortman
Several years ago a survey identified the most well-known wisdom sayings from our youth. Among the most common are “treat others how you’d like to be treated” and “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” But the most popular was “practice makes perfect” — a saying that made its debut in literary English in the Diary and Autobiography of John Adams. The logic behind this maxim is pretty straightforward: the more we do something, the more our ability for doing that thing improves.
The idea of learning by doing is not new. Ask any music teacher: the indispensable key to making beautiful music is practice, practice and more practice. Indeed, from classical times, the learning of trades and crafts has been passed on from master to apprentice, with the student learning each skill by repeatedly imitating the master’s example. And since the dawn of time, children have learned much by following their parents’ example. Like baby ducklings learning to swim by following their parents.
So it should come as no surprise that Jesus would use this same method in the Gospel to instruct His students, His apprentices, His Disciples, in mission work. From the moment He began to gather disciples around Him several chapters earlier, Jesus went about continually proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand while also healing the sick, driving out demons, and raising the dead! His proclamation of the Kingdom was a message of hope to inspire faith among those who had given up hope, and His miracles of healing and deliverance not only inspired that new hope and enlivened that tentative new faith, but also did something even more important.
Both message and miracles were life-changing acts of compassion, were an outpouring of God’s love – an intimate and powerful reminder of the loving kindness of God for His people. Life is NOT unrelenting fear, sorrow and distress. God did not abandon us to such things, but rather He came in the flesh to take the sting of those things upon Himself so that we might have joy and gladness in their place. Sing joyfully, the psalmist says, because we know God’s goodness and mercy, His kindness and faithfulness, in every generation.
The Disciples saw all of this unfold before them. Up until now they had been merely spectators, in a sense, learning by observation, eyes and ears open, but mouths shut and hands idle. Their hopes were raised, and their faith in God was enkindled. Yet their song was still mute, and their joy incomplete. They needed more, and Jesus knew what they needed. They needed to sing and to do! So Jesus sent out His apprentices to do precisely that in imitation of Him. Proclaim the Good News joyfully, and give the people reason for joy as well by healing the sick, driving out the oppression of evil spirits, and bringing new life. Make the rest of God’s people disciples too and then see how the Kingdom grows!
Like a good teacher, Jesus started them out easy. He sent them to places where they more likely would be welcome, steering them away from the more complex challenges of Samaritans and pagans. He did not send them out alone, but rather sent them in pairs. And perhaps most important of all, He gave them a share of His own ministry, of His own divine authority. A real but inchoate divine accompaniment that would later become very Personal indeed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Matthew’s Gospel does not say how well the Disciples fared in their first mission assignment, but Luke’s Gospel reports that they experienced both successes and setbacks. As ever, the Master was at hand to guide and instruct them, and then send them out again in even greater numbers. Practice makes perfect.
Like the first twelve Disciples, all Christians are called to be missionaries. We who have heard the Good News ourselves and who have experienced God’s love firsthand are called to testify by words of faith and acts of kindness and compassion that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It may not always be easy, particularly if we find ourselves in hostile territory, but the more we do it, the better at it we will become.
The whole world is our mission territory, but like the first disciples, it may be helpful to start close to home. Perhaps among our own family members. Is someone in your family struggling with their faith, or trying to find their way in life? Be kind to them, accompany them with compassion, not judgment. Remind them of God’s love and of yours as well. Practice humility but clothed with confidence in the power of God to effect miracles in their lives and yours. Parents, start with your children. Model the way of faith and love for them and they will follow. Children return the favor to your parents when the struggles of life threaten to drown out the joyful song of God’s goodness. Care for them in their illnesses, and be there for them as they grow older.
Remember also our Church family. As Pope Francis recently said, the Church herself needs to be continually evangelized with the Good News, by word and deed. We are called to be missionaries for each other. One way we are doing that here at St. Victoria is by commissioning our own twelve Synod Evangelism Team members this weekend. Having been formed more deeply in their own faith this past year, they will now share and practice that faith more intentionally among us in the year to come. Pray for them as they pray for us, and honor their service with your own service.
Finally, as you grow in confidence by doing, expand your sights to include your extended family, your co-workers — even your friends on social media. Proclaim the God of sweet love and then back it up with love that expresses itself both tenderly and boldly, offering mercy and healing wherever there is anger or hurt. Practice makes perfect. But even more: when it comes to faith, practicing makes us perfect.
