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From the Gospel according
to Saint Luke. 22:54-62
Then they seized Jesus
and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. Peter
followed at a distance; and when they had kindled a fire in the
middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.
Then a maid, seeing him as he sat in the light and gazing at him,
said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I
do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said,
“You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And
after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying,
“Certainly this man was also with him; for he is a Galilean.” But
Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And
immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the
Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of
the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you
will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
MEDITATION
Peter claimed to be strong,
but he broke down before a servant girl. Human weakness takes us by
surprise, and we collapse. That is why Jesus asks us to watch and
pray.[1]
He urges self-renunciation and closeness to God.
There is a rebellious
“self” within us. We are often of “two minds”,[2]
but we fail to recognize this inner inconsistency. Peter recognized
it when his eyes met the eyes of Jesus, and he wept. Later, Thomas,
encountering the Risen Lord, acknowledged his own faithlessness and
believed. In the light of Christ, Paul became aware of the
inconsistency within himself, and he overcame it with the Lord’s
help.[3]
Going deeper still, he discovered: “It is no longer I who live, but
it is Christ who lives in me.”[4]
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