Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: The Fragility of Simon Peter, the Apostle

Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Fragility of Simon Peter, the Apostle

No Christian can deny that Peter was a dedicated and a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I admire in him the aspect of not losing hope even when things turned bizarre for him. For that matter, I developed an interest to closely observe his weaknesses during Easter as illustrated in the gospels of Matthew and John. Here are some of my observations:

He had a little faith and that is why he almost sank in the water on trying to work the way Jesus himself did (Mt 14:28-30). He had no option other than seeking assistance from Jesus.
When Jesus foretold his death, Peter called him aside to rebuke him and told him that it should not happen. That statement made Jesus to refer to him as a Satan and reminded him that he was still thinking as human beings (Mt 17:14)
During the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, Peter is clearly depicted as a thinker. His happiness is beyond control and suggests constructing three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. He finds life so good that he no longer thinks about going down the hill to continue with the mission. (Mt 17:14)

‘Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be’ (Mt 26:33) Peter proclaimed when Christ told him that Peter would deny him. He vowed to die with Jesus and that he would never deny him. The question is - did he keep the promise?
Jesus took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebeede to pray at Gethsemane, the time when his soul was sorrowful to death. To his dismay, the three sons were completely dead to the world at that particular time when he was under great agony. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for an hour.” (Mt 26:41)
At the arrest of Jesus, he tuned red and lost control of himself. The only thing he could think of was his sword. He took it out and within a twinkle of an eye, Malchus’ right ear was down. Jesus had to intervene to avoid more blood shed since he was a non-violent Messiah (see John 18:10)

Peter was indeed a funny disciple. This is vivid when Jesus was entering the court yard of the high priest. One of the disciples entered with Jesus but Peter chose to remain outside the compound. On being brought in and questioned whether he was one of the disciples, he had a short answer for that “I am not”. While Jesus was being questioned by the high priest about who he was, Peter was standing by the fire warming himself with the guards as if he was one of them.(John 18:15-18)
After denying the Messiah, he is not heard of at all until the resurrection when he ran towards the tomb with another disciple (John20:4). I wonder where Peter was during the passion and crucifixion of Jesus.

I therefore pray that my weaknesses should not discourage me but spur me to make the necessary effort.

(Otieno)

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What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”