Jesus chose the “most sinful of the Apostles” to build His Church, stressed Pope Francis during the morning Mass of June 2, 2017, at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. He recommended living like Peter, not with “the head held high” but “with humility, with love.”
In his homily, reported by Vatican Radio in Italian, the Holy Father commented on today’s Gospel (John 21:15-19), where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him: “Jesus chose the most sinful of the Apostles, the others fled, he denied Him, and Jesus asked him “do you love Me more than these?”
That Jesus chose “the most sinful” to “feed the People of God, makes one think,” he continued. “Not to feed with the head held high, as a great dominator, no: to feed with humility, with love . . . is the mission that Jesus gives Peter, yes, with his sins, with his errors.”
Vehement in his denial, Peter was “able to weep bitterly,” the Pope also noted. “And then, after spending his whole life at the Lord’s service, he ended as the Lord: on the cross. But he didn’t boast: ‘I ended as my Lord!’ No, he asked: ‘Please, put me on the cross with my head down, so that it is seen at least that I’m not the Lord, I am the servant.’”
Meditating on “this very beautiful, very serene, very friendly, very modest dialogue . . . may the Lord always give us the grace to go in life with our head down: our head held high because of the dignity God gives us, but our head down, knowing that we are sinners and that Jesus is the one Lord, we are servants,” concluded Pope Francis.
