Out of all the people within the inner circle of Jesus Christ, the person I most identify with is Peter. Peter was the most human. He was called, and he answered. He believed and followed. Yet when the times were getting tough, he fled as soon as he could. When things mattered, he failed to stand up for the one he loved – Jesus.
What haunted him was his denial of Christ because he feared for his life. It’s understandable, your Master is captured, tortured and would be put to death – if that happened to Christ, how much more to Peter, a follower.
How many times have we denied Christ? When we cheated in class? Lied about something? Stopped listening to our parents? Live sinful and selfish lives? These are the times that we deny Christ like Peter denied Him.
But like Peter, we do love Him, we still love Him. Yet the world judges us. That who are we to say that we are followers of Christ yet stumble every step of the way. Our love fails. We stop following Him.
Yet the Lord doesn’t stop. He never did. In fact, what causes us to stumble is what He uses for our own redemption. What reminds us of our past and hinders us from following Him – is what He uses to embrace us. Jesus asks Peter three times, the same number of times that Peter denied Christ. The times we fail Him is the same number of times He uses that to redeem us.
Our point of failure is our point of redemption.
Kev, no wonder God is asking asking me to do so many things, I failed Him so many times 🙂
Thanks for your reflection on today’s gospel, I learned a lot….
WOOOOOOOOO!!!