At our Vigil Mass tonight, Father pointed out in his homily…that Matthew’s Gospel does point out for us that this same Peter of gifted Faith is the same Peter who will tell Jesus that He will not be going to Jerusalem and crucified, hence indicating that Peter had not understood Jesus’ messianic mission at all. That this same Peter who will protest that he would die rather than deny Christ…does so three times after the arrest of Jesus. That this same Peter who walked on the water, began to sink when He lost trust in Jesus.
This reflects our nature too and the nature of most all humans…we have a very good and positive side, and we have that other side to contend with too. And that Jesus who embraces us with His love and care, concern…embraces the whole of us, not only part of us.
Father also pointed out that the nature of Peter though chosen for leadership of The Church, is also the nature of our own leadership in The Church and also that we are all leaders somewhere or other in our lives. I did think to myself though, “no excuse to sit back and rest in …ah well, c’est la vie.” Certainly we need a certain attitude that fallibility and error is part of being human no matter our status anywhere…but to always be on the “try to do better” road… I did read tonight somewher or other that if we are not on the “try to do better” road there is only one way forward and that is backwards.
