SAINT PETER IN GALLICANTU
Holy Friday
To be on the path to holiness, as every Christian is, does not mean that one stops being a sinner completely and forever. We always need God’s forgiveness, his Mercy that sustains us and helps us to move forward and get up when we fall. Saint Peter understood this well: Jesus chose him as the “rock” on which “to build his church” but clearly did not ignore Peter’s human weaknesses.
God’s call and the mission he entrusts to us does not imply pretending that there is no possibility of falling into temptation. Jesus knows that Peter will deny him. On the evening of the Last Supper, when faced with the readiness of Peter, the dedication he expressed to the Master, Jesus foretells what will happen, saying: “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times” (Mk 14:30).
Let us consider the fact that because Jesus showed that he knew what would happen – and yet did not kick Peter out, but instead took him to pray at Gethsemane – Peter was able to recognize his betrayal, to regret and to get back up. Peter had faith in forgiveness. This, perhaps, is the difference between Peter and Judas: to believe that God’s mercy is so great that it welcomes us when, repentant, we return to the Father’s house