John 21:1-19
The Primacy of Peter
by Rev. Robert J. Wagner
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic
Herald"
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John wrote to show that Christ was
the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.
At
that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called
Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his
disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." they said
to him, "We also will come with you." So they went out and got into the
boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus
was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They
answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side
of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not
able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom
Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped
into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far
from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.
When
they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught," So Simon
Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large
fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus
said to them, "Come, have breakfast." And none of the disciples dared to
ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came
over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being
raised from the dead.
When
the had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do
you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then
said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus
said to him, "Tend my sheep." Jesus said to him the third time, "Simon,
son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to
him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know
everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and
go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands, and
someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He
said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when
he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."
On
the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, also called the Sea of Galilee, there is a
small church whose sanctuary is built around a large, flat rock. The church is
called the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, and the rock is the location
where Jesus prepared and ate breakfast with the apostles after He rose from the
dead, as we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel. This little church, which can only
seat a few dozen people in its pews, is a direct link to an historical event
that took place 2,000 years ago. Not just any event, but an encounter between
the apostles and Our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Yet not only is this site tied to
the Resurrection of Our Lord, it is also the site where He commanded Peter to
take charge of the church He was establishing on earth.
Of
course, Peter was assigned his role by Jesus before the Resurrection. In the
Gospel of Matthew, after Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of
the Living God, Jesus replies, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). In this moment, Jesus renames Simon,
son of Jonah, calling him Peter, taken from the Greek word for rock (petros). It
is important to note that Jesus did not place Peter at the head of Peter’s
church, but His own church, that is, the church established by Jesus Christ on
earth. Thus, Peter and his successors, the popes, would be given authority of
the church established and maintained by the grace of Jesus Christ.
After
being chosen as the “Rock,” Peter shows his weakness several times before the
Resurrection, most notably in his triple denial of Jesus Christ on the night of
the Last Supper. Peter wept bitterly after turning his back on Jesus in His time
of need, and must have considered himself unfit to lead the church as had been
foretold. This Sunday, we hear the Risen Lord Jesus overturn that triple denial
by asking Peter three times, “Do you love me more than these?” All three times,
Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love you.” St. John Chrysostom, a
doctor of the church, writes, “Three confessions (of love) are made to answer to
the three denials (of Holy Thursday, when Peter denied knowing Jesus three
times); that the tongue might show as much love as it had fear, and life gained
draw out the voice as much as death threatened.” Jesus knows that each of us,
including Peter and all the saints, are human, and therefore are prone to sin,
yet He offers all of us forgiveness and grace through His death and
resurrection. While they bear the responsibility of leading the church of Jesus,
Peter and his successors are imperfect, sinful and sometimes in error. Yet we
confidently place our trust in Peter and his successors just as the Risen Lord
does when He commands Peter to feed His sheep.
St.
Catherine of Siena, a medieval saint and another doctor of the church, was known
to speak very frankly to the pope during her time, a time in which the church
and the papacy were soiled by confusion and corruption. However, she never
failed to recognize the pope as “sweet Christ on earth,” and she offers us the
following regarding how we, too, are to esteem the successor to Peter that the
Holy Spirit has chosen for us: “(T)hat which we do to him we do to Christ: we
honor Christ if we honor the Pope; we dishonor Christ if we dishonor the Pope.”
Jesus
chose Peter to feed His sheep and be the rock on which He built His church. Our
Catholic faith teaches us that the successors of Peter have been entrusted with
the same mission, and thus we trust the grace to complete the same weighty
responsibility. Let us always pray for our pope, our “Christ on Earth,” that he
may act in accord with the will of Jesus, and pray for ourselves, that we may
grant him the honor and esteem worthy of his chosen role. We thank God for St.
Peter and his successors, and we ask for His continued blessings upon Pope
Francis as he leads Christ’s church on earth.
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