Feet of Clay
A year after my First Communion, the Bishop came to our parish for Confirmation and I chose Peter as my confirmation name. I am not sure why I chose that name. All I knew was that it was the name of the disciple who became the first Pope.
Over the years I have grown very fond of Peter. Here was a fisherman chosen by Jesus to be an apostle and to proclaim the Gospel, yet he had feet of clay. He was the man who walked on water, until the moment he took his gaze off Jesus and began to sink. He was the man who cut off the ear of the servant in the garden of Gethsemane. He was the man who was to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth until the night, by the fire in the courtyard of the high priest, he denied Jesus three times. Nevertheless, he was the one whom Jesus called to feed his lambs and sheep. Jesus gave him the name rock and on him the church has been built.
Peter was a flawed human being, whom Jesus chose to lead and guide the followers to share the Good News. We have two letters that he wrote and they are full of encouragement. I love these words of his:
‘So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.’ [Peter 5: 1-4]
When I was ordained a priest, it was St Paul that I turned to for the words that I wanted for my Ordination Card: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. [2 Corinthians 4:7] Like St Peter, Paul was painfully aware that, even though he had been called by Jesus when he underwent his conversion on the road to Damascus, all his life he faced the truth that he needed to trust in God. He was not the message. He was only the earthen vessel that contained an immense treasure. Paul clashed with Peter and he fell out with several of his companions. Yet the Spirit inspired him to write such words as those we read in his first letter to the Corinthians:
‘Love is always patient and kind, love is never jealous, love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end.’
What wonderful human beings. What wonderful saints.