Commentary on the Gospel of
As weak human beings, there is a little bit of Peter in each of us. This truth must be seen as good news because it frees Jesus to speak to us as he did to Peter in today’s Gospel and it frees us too to answer as Peter did. Peter’s love was little, imperfect and far from what Jesus expected of him. Jesus came down to the level of the love of Peter which he was only capable of and accepted it with compassion and entrusted his mission. Peter in an instant was healed of his imperfect love at the sight of self-sacrificial love (agape) in Jesus. He is a transformed man. The new Peter is the miracle of love, example of the power of understanding and forgiving love. With infinite delicacy Jesus gives Peter a triple chance to self-redeem from within.
Paradoxically it is our very sin that sets us aside for Jesus’ special attention. If we do not experience God as merciful and forgiving, we may not experience God at all. ‘Follow me!’ comes with a very high price. It is to love him, not just to like him as a Facebook status. It is to have other people make demands on us and lead us where we may not wish to go.
