Word to the Wise
Friday, May 26, 2023 - 7th Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 25:13b-21 and John 21:15-19]"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 out 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." [John]
MAY 26 ST. PHILIP NERI, C.O.
Today, the scene in the gospel scripture from the Gospel According to John moves almost abruptly from the "upper room" and the Last Supper discourse to the post-resurrection period of Jesus' appearances to the disciples. Chapter 21 of this gospel is referred to by scripture scholars as the "Johannine Appendix," because it was probably added on at a later stage of the gospel's composition. It builds on traditions from outside the gospel text (the big catch of fish in the Gospel According to Luke [5:1-11] and the multiplication of loaves and fishes [in all four gospels]. It juxtaposes Peter and the Beloved Disciple with Peter as leader of the community, but the Beloved Disciple as the one who has the spiritual insight to recognize Jesus on the shore. Peter's triple denial of Jesus earlier is balanced by Jesus' triple question: "Do you love me?" Last but not least is the prediction of Peter's martyrdom, quoted above. It is this latter bit that keeps coming to me at this stage in my life! I'm 80 years old!
I don't expect to experience martyrdom of the kind that Peter and the other apostles did, but I understand well the lines about growing old and becoming more dependent on the help of others. I am determined to accept that help as I prepare for a move to a new ministry in early August as chaplain to the cloistered Dominican nuns at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX, (across the state from Lubbock, where I now live). WTTW will continue, fear not! "Elderhood" can be a kind of "martyrdom" but it can be a gracious and grateful one. That is my goal. The Lord concludes his statement to Peter with the words, "Follow me!" For me that means to Lufkin, TX, and the Monastery of the Infant Jesus. AMEN
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