Saint Simon Peter did not worry that he might have looked silly or weak or that Christ might be upset with him for deserting Him during his Passion and Death just a few days earlier.
My brother has a labrador as his pet dog. This animal is a bumbling, clumsy fool of a dog. I know that labradors are supposed to be clever animals, but this particular dog seems to be utterly silly in every possible way.
When this dog wants to greet me (when I see him) he rushes over – nearly tripping me over in his enthusiasm – and sort of half jumps, half falls on me, while I desperately try to get him to sit or heel or stay so that I do not get doggy-slobber all over me.
The funny thing about that dog is that he means well. Sometimes, he is annoying and irritates me, but always he is trying his best to be close to me and kind to me and show me affection.
Now, I have been thinking about that dog as I have been thinking about Saint Simon Peter the Apostle to whom God gave the keys to His Kingdom...
You see, Saint Simon Peter and that dog bear many similarities – and I mean that nicely and not in any way as an insult to the Saint…
You see, it is a very easy thing to make oneself bog – like a cat. A cat will rarely come to its owner and will certainly not care if its owner calls it. The cat will make use of the owner when it feels like a cuddle, but for the most part a cat will refrain from much display of affection because a cat will not be bumbling to express its affection for its owner. A dog, on the other hand, will fall over itself to show affection to its owner. It will trip its owner up in its eagerness to get close to its owner.
And in many ways, Saint Simon Peter was the same. He bumbled a little – there is no mistake about that… He had the wrong answer during the Transfiguration, and he deserted Christ at the Crucifixion, and he was often proud and trying to assert his authority. BUT – he was also so in love with Christ that he literally tripped over in his clumsy efforts to make that love known. He was so in love with Christ that even despite denying Christ three times before the cock crowed, he was still first – among the disciples – to run out to the tomb in search of the Risen Lord. He did not worry that he might have looked silly or weak or that Christ might be upset with him for deserting Him during his Passion and Death just a few days earlier. None of that was important, because he just loved Christ so much…
And so – like a sloppy puppy – he just rushed out there to see his Beloved. And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about how different I am from that Saint… And today, I pray for the Grace to be a little more like a dog. For there is such enthusiastic love for God in that, and I am not showing it at all…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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