I love Simon Peter.
There are 2 options for the reading of today’s Gospel, one
which ends at the 14th verse at breakfast and the other which
includes Jesus’s one on one conversation with Peter. Peter’s response to Jesus
throughout the Gospels always hits close to home for me, so I chose the latter.
How eager and impulsive is Simon Peter when in the presence
of his Master! We have heard this story before in the Gospels; He and the
disciples has been out on the water fishing all night with no luck. Jesus
appears on the shore and gives them instructions on where to place the nets…
and as before, they are not able to pull the nets in the boat because they are
so full. The beloved disciple recognizes Jesus, gives Peter a nudge… and then
Peter does a most Peter-ly thing; jumps out of the boat to swim to him because
he simply cannot get to Him fast enough (at least he didn’t try to walk on the
water again!). They sit and have breakfast in a most familiar way recognizing
their lord in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus then takes Simon Peter aside and asks if he loves Him.
Then he asks again. And then again. Three times, Simon Peter assents that he does
indeed love Him – maybe getting a bit annoyed with his Master the 3rd
time. I have always seen this almost as a sacramental confession, a mirror, for
the three times Peter denied Him during the Passion preparing him for his
ministry as a leader of the fledgling Church. Imagine being Peter, swimming in
a sea of confusion and emotion and guilt and pain the last few weeks. His
Master whom he loved above all things was executed in a most exquisitely brutal
fashion, partially because he didn’t stand up for Him. Now, impossibly and
wonderfully, He is back. But now Jesus keeps asking whether he loves Him. Peter
needed Jesus’s love and forgiveness at that moment as we all do when we fall
away. As is stated in the Gospel, for Peter the distress is real!
What a different Peter we see in the first reading from Acts!
Peter and the apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin for
preaching in the name of Jesus; we hear another echo of the Passion narrative
back to Jesus being brought before Caiaphas. Then, Peter lingered behind the
company of Temple guards who had taken Jesus, and stayed well outside of the
Sanhedrin’s sight as he waited to see the fate of his Master. He was recognized
as a follower of Jesus anyway, and fell away in fear. He fell three times. And
we see in today’s gospel, Jesus lifts him up 3 times.
DO YOU LOVE ME, SIMON PETER? THEN FEED MY LAMBS.
DO YOU LOVE ME, SIMON PETER? THEN TEND MY SHEEP.
DO YOU LOVE ME, SIMON PETER? THEN FEED MY SHEEP.
Now we see Peter, in full sight of the Sanhedrin, steadfastly
refusing their strict orders to stop teaching in the name of the Risen Jesus. “We
obey God rather than men. God exalted Jesus and we are witness to these things.
NO, we ain’t gonna stop.” The Sanhedrin releases him along with the rest of the
Apostles, still demanding they cease and desist, though now toothless. Instead of denying the Lordship of Christ
directly in the face of persecution, Peter and the rest of the Apostles REJOICE
in the opportunity to being found worthy to be His disciples.
How often are we in Peter and the Apostles’ place? As
Christians in the modern world and specifically as Independent Catholic
Christians, we can certainly face ridicule for our beliefs. We receive it sometimes
from non-Christians and nonbelievers. In my own experience however, we receive
it sharpest from other Christians; our own modern Sanhedrin. We don’t follow
Christ the proper way, because we state the Eucharist is indeed valid via zoom.
We don’t follow Christ the proper way because we ordain women to serve as
deacons and priests. We don’t follow Christ the proper way, because we invite
ALL to our Table and don’t turn away anyone who feels moved to approach it. We
don’t follow Christ the proper way, because we welcome, worship with, and
ordain LGBTQ+ folks.
In the words of our Brother Thomas Merton:
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire
whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and it is in fact,
nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is love. And this love itself will
render both us and our neighbors worthy.”
May we always follow the example of Simon Peter, diving off
boats, and pledging to die in our love for Christ and each other. Yup we’re
going to fall short in the practice of that, time and again. But Jesus will
always pull us aside, ask for our love and exhort us to feed his sheep anyway.
Once, twice, thrice, seventy times seventy.
Let us be as impulsive and eager as Simon Peter when it comes to following Christ.
Let’s dive off some boats.
Acts 5:27-32, 40,41
Psalm 30:2,4-6,11-13
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
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