Tuesday, 4/11/14
Jesus told Peter, “The cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.” St. Luke, in his Gospel gives a fuller
presentation of that scene. Let me quote what he recalls Jesus saying.
“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to
sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail,
and once you have turned back, you must strengthen our brethren.”
Let me tell you, that as a seventeen-year-old
seminarian I was very happy to come on that verse. A severe seminary professor had
told us that any boy who had committed a mortal sin should not present himself
for ordination to the priesthood. Now, since boys will be boys, I was thinking
I might have committed a mortal sin, and I was wondering if I should give up
studying to be a priest.
Then, I came on that passage from Luke. In it
Jesus said he knew that Peter was going to deny him three times; but even so,
he had forgiven him in advance, and he had great work in store for Peter after
he repented.
On
reading what Luke quoted Jesus as saying I recalled that old expression, “God
know the clay of which we are made.” I was comforted by knowing that God makes
allowances for our weakness, and he does not give up on us after we slip.
No comments:
Post a Comment