By Richard Clifford, S.J.

The last several years have seen three wars, all with huge civilian sufferings with no peace in sight. Against this international background, domestic realities play out, which are far from reassuring. It’s no wonder that a sober and introspective mood is increasingly dominant in our culture. These sobering realities turn many people to make the case for withdrawal and caution.

Today’s Lectionary, however, does not support this wariness, at least not its main actor, Peter. Peter was chosen by Christ to lead the new community by acting as a leader as well as being a teacher. Peter defied officials’ prohibition of preaching about Jesus as the Messiah. For continuing to preach, he was arrested, released, and then went right back to preaching. Though humiliated, he and other apostles left the Sanhedrin “rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” And in the final scene in the Gospel of John, as soon as he hears that the stranger on the shore is Jesus, he jumps and swims to him, though the others do the sensible thing of rowing calmly to shore. It’s safe to say that Peter was not an example of caution and holding back in the early Church.

What made Peter act boldly? In Acts of the Apostles, he “rejoiced that he had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” In other words, he was confident that he was obeying the command of his Lord to preach the Name in the face of opposition; he was imitating Christ. In the breakfast at the lake, he experienced an in-depth three-step forgiveness that reversed and healed his three-fold denial of Christ in his Passion. And Jesus assures him that his death will imitate the death of Jesus. No wonder that Peter rejoices and faces the future with confidence.

Richard Clifford, S.J. former President of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and Founding Dean of the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry