And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

With the election of our new Pope, I have found myself once again pondering Saint Peter and the fact that Jesus chose him to lead the church, when out of all the Apostles he is the one who seems to fall the most or who Jesus corrects the most in the scriptures.

Just a cursory glance at the scriptures and I can think of at least 4 and possibly 5 corrections or rebukes that Jesus hands out to Peter. I want to focus on two of those instances though all of them have this common thread. Peter was corrected in Matthew 16:21-23;

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

And John 18:7-11;

Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these people go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

In both of these instances Jesus is trying to do the will of the Father and Peter is a hinderance. But from Peter’s perspective he is trying to save Jesus from harm. His faith is so strong that Jesus is the Messiah, but his perspective is off about what the Messiah is coming to do. For Peter, he is saving Jesus. How can you not just love Him and His zeal for Christ? And isn’t this something we have all struggled with? It’s the delicate balance of knowing when God is telling you to act, and when God is asking you to stand down so he can act. The word I would use to describe Peter is tenacity. But unfortunately, his tenacity got the better of his discernment.

It takes a great listening to the Lord and even then, we see Peter, who listened directly and still didn’t get it. Yet his boldness is endearing, and the Lord knew his heart. Jesus just had to strip him completely of any ego that believed he could save Jesus. St. John Chrysostom tells us that the Lord’s rebukes weren’t to shame him, but to show him grace so he would grow into the Rock upon which the church was built.

It makes sense to me that Jesus chose Peter to be the leader of the church. Here is a man whose heart yearns to guard the truth. When Peter finally realizes, after falling hard, that Jesus saves, he did grow into the leader that Jesus saw all along and Pentecost brought all the gifts that heaven could bring upon Peter.

But there is a lesson in this for all of us. In our society today it is often confusing, especially on the ground in our parishes and in the world. When do we speak up and defend Jesus with everything we have, and when do we acquiesce to something that, for all intents and purposes, is evil so that God can purify us and bring something greater? It is a question I ponder often.

We see in the book of Jeremiah that the Lord sometimes does tell us not to act. Judah has become so steeped in idolatry that God tells Jeremiah to stop praying and interceding for them. God says;

As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Jeremiah 7:16

Judah experiences a tragic downfall because of their sin and idolatry. They had been repeatedly warned for over 400 years. Saint Augustine saw God’s long-suffering patience for Judah as a model of divine mercy. But justice finally had to come. It is the consequence of persistently breaking covenant. I see this in our world today, our persistence in sin. For now, the Lord has kept asking me to pray so I do. I wonder how much long-suffering the Lord will endure, how much Our Lady will weep?

But for Judah they fell. And yet we know that Jesus is the lion of Judah. He came from the line that fell. The hard fall produced good fruit. God’s ways are better than our ways if only we have the foresight to see.

Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Revelation 5:5

Though Peter wasn’t idolatrous in any way, he did need his idea that he was the savior of the Savior purged. And this purging for him also came through falling. The goal is always humility before the Lord. Peter was humbled and wept. And Jesus’ allowing him to fall broke open his heart so he could receive the Holy Spirit.

I have said before that I try to view life through the lens of the life of Christ, especially the Passion. It helps me to discern because God gave us the scriptures and a guidepost. Jesus’ life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension and sending of the Spirit, the story we know, helps us to discern what is happening now wisely. And by focusing especially on the Passion we have clearer eyes to see when we should act and when we should not. All of it gives us indication of when to speak, when to be silent, and when to be obedient even if things look dire. I check my intent and my ego often because I know from experience that falling hard can be difficult to get up from. But even if this happens, get up and believe. Pray without ceasing. Ask God daily if you are doing what He wants you to be doing and then just trust that because you love Him, he will work all for your good no matter how messy it is along the way. Just ask Saint Peter.

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