“Now when Peter was in the court below, there came one of the maid-servants of the high priest, and when she had seen Peter warming himself, stared at him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus of Nazareth’. But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him’.” (Lk 22:58)
Peter, having recovered from his terror in the garden, followed Jesus but stayed afar. Earlier he had boasted of his steadfast fidelity. His weakness truly great, grievous indeed was his fall. St Peter’s fall shows us the weakness of human nature, and makes us tremble. Every effect has a cause.
The Fathers give four reasons for his fall-- 1) he was presumptuous of his own strength; 2) he had neglected prayer and vigil with his Master; 3) he was rash in exposing himself to temptation; and 4) he indulged tepidity and idle curiosity. Our past falls and false steps can easily be traced to one or other of these causes.
“And again he denied with an oath: ‘I know not the man’.” (Mt 26:72) As the danger increased, St Peter’s fear grew stronger, and he fell lower still. His first denial had been a cowardly falsehood; but his second was a perjury. His sins came fast and became more and more deadly. Correcting one mistake with another?
Once we yield to our passions, human respect, gluttony, curiosity, anger, sensuality, or any other sin, we shall soon drift farther. We must not say, ‘I will do what I wish for this once, and then I shall be at rest’; or, ‘I will go thus far in what is wrong, but no farther’. The passions are like fire which never says, ‘It is enough’. St Augustine, speaking from experience, said so.
“... after one hour, one of the servants said to him, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him? Surely you also are one of them?’ But he began to curse and swear, saying, ‘I know not this man of whom you speak’.” (cf Mk 14:71)
The Apostle’s fearsome fall was rapid. In less than two hours he thrice denied his Lord. Twice he perjured himself; and finally confirmed his false-swearing by a fearful curse on himself. What shame and grief he gave to his Master’s heart who, that very instant standing nearby, was enduring cruel insults for love of him!
Why did our Lord permit him, who was to become the head of the Church, to fall so low? And why was it recorded in the Gospel for the whole world to know? The Fathers give three reasons --
1) so that St Peter and his successors, the chief pastors of the Church, should excel in humility, and have a deep sympathy for the weakness of their people; 2) so that the world, perceiving the weak foundation the Catholic Church is built on, should recognize that it is indeed the work of God, not of men, and that its existence is a wonder and a marvel; and 3) as a warning to men, that, no matter to what height of sanctity they have attained, they are still very weak, and need continuing divine grace.
Let us exalt the wisdom of Divine Providence!
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp112-5)
The Return to the Father’s House
Lent is the time for a particularly loving meeting on our Father’s part with each and every one of us, so that even the most prodigal son may still take account of the waste he has perpetrated, call his sin by its name, and finally make his way with complete sincerity back to God, to the Father’s house. The way is through ‘examination of conscience, repentance, and resolve to improve; need for confession’ arises in him.
Our reconciliation with God, the return to the Father’s house, is accomplished through Christ. His suffering and death on the cross stand between every human conscience, every human sin, and the Father’s boundless Love. Such Love is prompt to raise and pardon; nothing else than Mercy. In personal conversion, in repentance, in firm resolve to reform, and finally in confession, each of us agrees to perform a personal spiritual labor.
This labor is an extension and prolonged reverberation of the labor of salvation which our Redeemer undertook. As the Apostle of reconciliation with God said: “For your sakes God made him who did not know sin, to be sin, so that in him we might become the very holiness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
So let us undertake our labor of conversion and penitence for Him, with Him and in Him. Unless we undertake it, we are not worthy of the name of Christ; we are not worthy of the inheritance of the Redemption.
Ref: cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, p137
Begin again after every failure
Our failures, often unforeseen, can usually lead to progress in our interior life. That is, if we react to them with humility and a firmer determination to follow Our Lord. Perseverance does not consist in never falling down, but in always getting up again every time we do. Very often we will hear the Holy Spirit say: ‘Make a new start with deeper humility ...’
“When a soldier in battle is wounded or has to give ground a little, no one is so demanding or so ignorant of military matters as to think this is a crime. Only those who do not fight are never wounded; those who charge the enemy with the greatest spirit are the ones who receive the most blows.” (cf St John Chrysostom, “Second Exhortation to Theodore”, 5)
Let us ask Our Lady for the grace never to abandon our interior struggle, however depressing or even catastrophic our previous experience may have been; and for the grace and the humility always to begin again. Let us also ask her that we may always persevere in our apostolate, even if it seems to produce no fruit.
One day, perhaps when we shall have arrived in heaven, Our Lord will show us the fruits of that apostolate and how, although at times it seemed to be useless, was in fact always effective. The seed which is sown always brings forth grain: “some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Mt 13:8) ... much grain from one seed.
Ref: cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 1:92-3
THE SEVEN SUNDAYS DEVOTION TO ST. JOSEPH -- Honors the seven joys and seven sorrows of St Joseph. (“Handbook of Prayers”, Fr Charles Belmonte and Fr James Socias [Eds], 1988, pp321-3)
“What must Joseph have been, how grace must have worked through him, that he should be able to fulfill this task of the human upbringing of the Son of God.
“For Jesus must have resembled Joseph: in his way of working, in the features of his character, in his way of speaking. Jesus’ realism, his eye for detail, the way he sat at table and broke bread, his preference for using everyday situations to give doctrine -- all this reflects his childhood and the influence of Joseph.
“It’s not possible to ignore this sublime mystery: Jesus who is man, who speaks with the accent of a particular district of Israel, who resembles a carpenter called Joseph, is the Son of God.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “In Joseph’s Workshop” in “Christ is passing by”, 40
The seventh sorrow and joy of St Joseph -- His sorrow when he lost the child Jesus; his joy in finding him in the temple.
“They were overcome when they saw him and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you’.” (Lk 2:43)
“Get to know Joseph and you will find Jesus. Talk to Joseph and you will find Mary, who always sheds peace about her in that attractive workshop in Nazareth.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “In Joseph’s Workshop”, 56
Our Lady de la Breche, at Chartres, where a procession takes place every year, in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s having delivered the city, when besieged by heretics, in the year 1568. It was during this siege that not a cannon or musket ball fired by the besiegers at the image of Our Lady, placed upon the Drouaise gate, struck it although the marks of them are still seen two or three inches from it. — Sebastien Rouillard, Parthenie, o. 3. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)
Our Lady of the Breach (Notre Dame de la Breche). Chartres, France. 1568. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (http://www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
Our Lady Of Kostrama (Russia) (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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