ARTICLE – Failure as a Gift: When Hopes Are Shaken, A New Path Is Taken

April 3, 2025 by Pierre-Alain Giffard News, Recommended Texts

Failure is rarely comfortable, often discouraging, and sometimes even humiliating. Yet failure is not foreign to the Gospel or to the Christian life. Our life journey whether in personal growth, mission, or evangelization, is rarely a straight line. In fact, it is often marked by stumbling, learning, getting up, and trying again. When we take on the mission of evangelization, we must expect to fail—not once, but eventually many times—and yet press forward, allowing the Holy Spirit to use even our weaknesses for God’s glory.

Consider Moses, who after killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11–15), fled into exile and spent forty years in the wilderness before God called him to liberate Israel. When called, Moses protested: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11). He failed in speech and confidence, yet God made him the great liberator.

The apostle Peter famously denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:61). His failure was public and painful, and yet Jesus restored him with the triple command: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Peter’s failure became the soil in which his humility and authority would grow.

St. Paul’s missionary journeys were tainted with rejection, stoning, imprisonment, and misunderstanding. In Acts 17, when he preached in Athens, many sneered and dismissed him. But Paul did not give up. His perseverance bore fruit in churches that would shape the course of history.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that the Christian life is a battle: “Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the beatitudes” (CCC 2015). The word ascesis refers to disciplined effort, often involving repeated struggle and failure. Holiness is not achieved instantly; it is grown through persistence, repentance, and grace.

Evangelization is no different. St. John Paul II, in his apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Missio, affirmed that “failure in human terms is not always failure in the eyes of God” (§40). The fruitfulness of our efforts cannot be judged solely by visible success, but by fidelity in trying to do God’s will.

Pope Francis often reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium that evangelizers must be “bold and creative” and not afraid to “abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way’” (§33). Innovation and creativity are inherently risky. They involve trial and error.

In evangelization, this mindset is crucial. Not every conversation will lead to conversion. Not every invitation will be accepted. But each experience teaches us something: how to listen better, speak more clearly, discern more carefully, and love more deeply.

Psychologically, fear of failure can paralyze us. But when we expect it, embrace it, and learn from it, we grow in wisdom and courage.

History is filled with examples of saints who faced repeated failure in mission. St. Francis Xavier traveled across Asia, often meeting resistance or indifference. Yet his faithfulness led to conversions that would ripple across centuries.

St. Jean de Brébeuf, one of the Canadian Martyrs, labored among the Huron people for years with little visible success. Eventually, he was martyred, and his blood became the seed of faith for generations.

Ultimately, the Christian vision of failure is cruciform. Jesus Christ Himself was “despised and rejected” (Isaiah 53:3), and by human judgment, the Cross was a colossal failure. Yet in God’s plan, it was the path to resurrection and redemption.

Evangelizing is a form of taking up our cross. We will sometimes be rejected, misunderstood and possibly ridiculed. But we are not called act by our own power. We are called to witness, love, and plant seeds. God gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:6–7).

When we fail, we must return to prayer, examine our hearts, and allow the Lord to purify our intentions. Sometimes the failure is not ours—it is simply the mystery of free will. Other times, God is allowing this to deepen our reliance on Him and to ready us for greater fruitfulness. We may fail again and again, but each attempt refines us, deepens our compassion, and trains our hearts in love. Like Peter after his denial, we are invited to love Jesus more deeply and gather His sheep despite our stumbles.

Let us accept and even embrace failure. Let us learn from it. Let it form us. Repetitive failure is usually the necessary road to true and lasting fruit. Let us never get discouraged! To fall and fail is part of the road for anyone bold enough to walk the path of conversion and mission.

Pierre-Alain Giffard
Email: pierre.alain.giffard@gmail.com

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