A high school principal
once related the story of a student who, late in her junior year, had
come to visit the principal one Monday morning. The student said that
she was having a “problem” which she wanted to speak with the principal
about.It
seems that this student had been out the previous Friday evening with
her gang of friends and they got caught drinking. As the student
related some of the background to her story, this wasn’t the first time
she had been caught. In fact, the first time she was caught drinking
was during the second semester of sophomore year and her parents
grounded her for three months (which meant the entire summer this young
girl could not go out). Then, the very first time this student went out
with her friends in September after the start of the school year, she
was once again caught drinking. That led to being grounded for six
months. So, the events of the preceding Friday evening were the third
time this student was caught drinking.
Understandably, her
parents were quite distraught and invoked the familiar rule of baseball,
namely, “three strikes and you’re out.” So, on Saturday morning, they
told their daughter she would have to leave the house and live with her
aunt and uncle. (I don’t know what the aunt and uncle did to deserve
this, but they had agreed to accept their niece into their home. I
can only imagine my nephews or niece showing up at my front door with me
being their guardian...gosh, I can barely guard myself!) “You can only
come home,” her parents told her, “once you decide who you love more,
your family or your friends.”
Now, the reason this
student came to visit with the principal on Monday morning was that she
found herself caught in a in a true moral dilemma. As she said to the
principal, “I really don’t know who I love more.”
“Simon Peter,” Jesus
asks three times in today’s gospel, “do you love me more than these?”
It’s easy to
conclude that Jesus is asking Peter whether he loved Jesus more than the
other disciples. But, what Jesus really is asking Peter is who will
play a more important role in Peter’s decision-making process. Will it
be Jesus and his teaching? Or, will it be Peter’s friends?
Unlike the junior
who three times had chosen her friends over her parents and now found
herself caught in a moral dilemma concerning who she loved more, Peter,
by means of contrast, is emphatically resolute, saying “You know that I
love you, Lord.”
Peter’s
protestations show us how different he was from that high school
junior. While she wasn’t sure whom she loved more and was honest enough
to admit that fact in her conversation with the principal, Peter was
quick to profess things he had little determination and will power to
follow through on. Furthermore, Peter had absolutely no track record of
once demonstrating that he truly loved Jesus.
For instance, you
may recall how Peter tried his very best to talk Jesus out of going to
Jerusalem at the beginning of that fateful Holy Week. Evidently, Peter
was so adamant that Jesus eventually turned to Peter and say, “Get
behind me, you Satan.” Jesus was adamant that he would do what God
required of him no matter what the personal cost.
You might also
recall that it was Peter who boasted at the Last Supper that he would
never betray Jesus. Yet, within just a few short hours, Peter reneges
on his word, swearing an oath three times that he didn’t even know “that
man, Jesus.” (That’s quite a way to refer to one’s friend, isn’t
it? Imagine saying,
“I don’t know that person, my wife (or husband.”)
And, let’s not
forget that it was Peter who abandoned Jesus to walk the way of the
Cross. Where did Peter go? He went with the other disciples to that
upper room where they locked themselves behind a barred door for fear of
the people of Jerusalem.
So, while Peter was
swift to boast, when he was put to the test, his actions denied the
bravado of his claims. For Peter, what seems to have mattered was being
safe and secure, not doing what God required of him.
We all know from
hard experience that “words are cheap.” Someone promises us something
or to do something that would make us feel special. But, then, someone
or something else comes along and the “promise made” isn’t the “promise
kept.” And so, we’re left holding the bag and feeling pretty miserable
deep inside. We feel cheapened because we now have first-hand evidence
that we really don’t matter much to others, despite all of their
promises and protestations.
It’s in this sense
that today’s gospel reminds each and every one of us that we, too,
oftentimes aren’t as honest as that high school student. Instead, we’re
more like St. Peter as we glibly proclaim our love.
For example:
·
It’s so
easy to say, “I love my parents.” But, when it comes to choosing
between my parents and my friends, that’s when our profession of love is
put to the test. Judging solely from our actions, wouldn’t it be more
honest to say, “I love my parents as long as they let me do what I
want”?
·
It’s easy
to say, “I love my husband” or “I love my wife.” But, when it comes to
putting one’s spouse ahead of one’s own selfish and self-centered
interests, that’s when our profession of love is put to the test.
Judging solely from our actions, wouldn’t it be more honest to say, “I
love my spouse so long as we do everything my way”?
·
It’s so
easy to say, “I love my kids.” But, when it comes to attending yet
another baseball, soccer, or basketball game, another class play, or
working on one more science project when we’d rather be doing something
else, that’s when our profession of love is put to the test. Judging
solely from our actions, wouldn’t it be more honest to say, “I love my
kids just so long as it doesn’t interfere with my job, my television
shows, or my pet projects”?
·
It’s so
easy to say, “I love being a Catholic.” But, when it comes to following
the Church’s teaching in our own lives or upholding Church teaching in
the public square, that’s when our profession of love is put to the
test. Judging solely from our actions, wouldn’t it be more honest to
say, “I love the Church as long as it teaches what I believe”? And, in
this election year, judging solely from the candidates we’ve actually
voted for in the past, wouldn’t it be more honest to say, “I don’t care
what the Church teaches, I’ll vote for the candidate who promises me
what I want”?
·
And, it’s
real easy to say, “I love God.” But, when it comes to forthrightly
stating to others what God requires of us or to protect our own skin
from the assaults of those who want to do otherwise, that’s when our
profession of love is put to the test. Judging solely from our actions,
wouldn’t it be much more honest to say, “I love God as long as it
doesn’t cause me any inconvenience”?
Unlike the high
school junior who candidly admitted the truth—she really wasn’t sure who
she loved more, her parents or her friends—don’t our actions indicate
that we are more like St. Peter? All so glibly, we protest that we love
others more than ourselves but, when we’re put to the test, we
demonstrate time and again that we really do love ourselves more than
those we profess to love. And, once again, like St. Peter, when other
people—whether they are our spouse, our kids, our friends, or our
acquaintances—confront us with our words, don’t we deny what we’ve said
or we tell those we’re trying to deceive that they really don’t know
what they are talking about? The conclusion is irrefutable: our words
are cheap and oftentimes they betray a lie rooted that is in our
selfishness.
It truly would be a
truly hopeless state—the state of every hypocrite—if all that
characterized our lives were our failures to live up to our words.
But, we must
remember, today’s gospel doesn’t end with Peter’s denial. Instead, it
teaches us that Jesus—the Risen Lord—remains faithful to his word even
to those who deny being his friend or even knowing of “that man.”
Despite Peter’s big character flaw, Jesus asks him yet another time, “Do
you love me, Peter, more than you love them?”
“Do you love
me?” Jesus asks of anyone who would dare to profess one’s love of God
and neighbor. Jesus isn’t asking only whether we’re willing to give up
what the world values. That’s just the beginning. He also is asking if
we’re willing to suffer ridicule, to be ostracized, and perhaps even
imprisoned, beaten, and put to death for standing up for God’s law and
doing what we know is the right thing to do. |
HOMILY
