Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Two loves of the Apostle Peter

In the seventh chapter of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Letitia, Pope Francis addresses the education of children by their parents. The question he says is not where our children are physically, or whom they are with but where are they existentially, where they stand in terms of their convictions, goals, desires and dreams. "Do we seek to understand where our children are in their journey? Where is their soul, do we know? Do we really want to know?"

Saint John Paul II once proposed the so-called “law of gradualness” in the knowledge that the human being “knows, loves and accomplishes moral good by different stages of growth”.

Language is everything. We use language to communicate and we had better know what we mean to say lest we commit ourselves to something we'd rather not. Communication between parents and children can frequently be a battle zone.

In reading the Scriptures, complexities can trouble us or puzzle us or confuse us or just excite and enlighten us. Various feelings come forth in the gospel for the third Sunday of Easter. In the liturgical celebration, we are invited to read a longer form or a shorter form. The longer form, the whole of chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, has two sections. In the first section, the Apostles go fishing after the death of Jesus. From this source it would appear that they are trying to get themselves back to a kind of normalcy in which they return to their previous occupation and keep themselves occupied by doing what they always knew best. But Jesus appears to them and the simple task of putting food on the table turns into an instruction on faith.

The second section of this Gospel uses two different verbs in Peter's expression of love for Jesus. Anyone familiar with C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves knows there are at least four different Greek verbs for the English word ‘love.’ Storge, for example, is a word indicating parental love. Eros indicates passionate love. Philia is friendship and Agape is unconditional love. Scripture was first composed in the Greek language. When Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Jesus uses the verb form agape. But Peter responds with the verb philia when he tells Jesus, “Of course, I love you.” Jesus repeats the question using agape again and Peter once again responds with philia. But then a twist. The third time Jesus asks the question he uses the verb Peter uses - philia. Jesus approaches Peter at his level. He meets Peter where he is. Peter is not ready to profess an undying commitment to Jesus. It has only been a short time since he betrayed him, after all. But Jesus knew he would give himself completely eventually.

What is going on? Peter is yet a child in his profession of faith. Peter is being reconciled with Jesus, but at a slower pace, a gradual one. Just as he denied Jesus three times so now Peter three times professes his love for Jesus. Jesus is calling Peter to a companionship with lots of strings, suffering and dying for Jesus. This demands unconditional love - agape.  But Peter only offers a lesser yet important kind of love - philia - however good and helpful it may be. Yet Jesus then tells him that someday he will indeed get there. Peter will indeed give his life for Jesus. 

What does this mean for us in pastoral ministry? We recognize the importance of suffering with Christ but we have to recognize that not everyone is ready to follow Jesus to the cross the first time they meet him. We draw one another into that suffering over time. We can't just be pushed or prodded into it. Jesus will welcome us when we are ready.