THROUGH UNTRUE

We have all experienced failure. Despite our best efforts, we often fall short of our goals, face setbacks, or make mistakes. During those moments, it is tempting to dwell on our shortcomings, succumb to despair, or give up entirely.  Failure brings a distressing sense of humiliation, defeat, and diminished self-worth. However, failure can lead us to our greatest triumph if we view it rightly. It can be an opportunity for growth and renewal.

Great thinkers, scientists, saints, and leaders have often failed along their paths to success. Henry Ford aptly stated, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Indeed, each setback can lead us to accept our weaknesses and limitations, examine our methods and strategies, and reassess and redefine our goals as we strive to bounce back.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples about His imminent death which many people consider an epic fail. They have reasons to think so. Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples, abandoned by almost all of them, and subjected to a degrading and excruciating form of execution. Many see Him as an unsuccessful religious leader who was rejected by the very people He loved. 

But Jesus saw His death differently. He said: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:23-24). His “hour” marks the fulfillment of His life’s journey and mission.  

For sure, Jesus was not exempt from the fear and apprehension that death evokes in every human being. Jesus expressed His dread over the prospect of being crucified when He exclaimed: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12: 27-28). 

By embracing His death with courage and acceptance, Jesus manifested His conviction that death was not His final destiny. Jesus transformed the cross from an instrument of torture into a powerful symbol of the triumph of love over hatred, life over death, and forgiveness over condemnation. 

Moreover, Jesus’s death on the cross teaches us the power of forgiveness. Despite the betrayal and rejection that He encountered, Jesus offered a message of forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope. In the same way, we can learn to forgive ourselves and others for past mistakes, allowing healing to take place. 

Today, if you are filled with shame and disgust because of repeated failures, you can, like Jesus, recognize that these are an integral part of your life’s journey. Besides, every setback brings precious insights for future endeavors. As the lyrics of one song suggest: “In life, there are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned.”  

God loves us too much to allow us to repeatedly fail. The problem is, we are too self-sufficient. We behave as though everything depends on us. How consoling is it to know that we can rest and relax with the thought that there is a God who does things infinitely better than we can?

Perhaps the sorrow we experience whenever we fail is God’s way of nudging us to recognize our dependence on Him. In his poem “The Hound of Heaven,” the poet Francis Thompson expresses this beautifully: “Is my gloom, after all, a shade of His hands, outstretched caressingly?”