From the Deacon's Desk

If interested, the following homily was delivered at our Good Friday liturgy BACK IN 2024:

Each year in the reading of the Passion, we hear Peter deny Jesus three times before the cock crows, just as Jesus had predicted he would do.

This may prompt us to say, “I can’t believe he did that!”

After all Jesus had done for him, and after swearing he would never forsake him, Peter turned away when the going got tough. Three times he said he did not even know Jesus, his mentor and friend.

Perhaps we have said at one time or another, “I would never deny knowing Jesus.”

Let’s put that to the test:

We attend a party on Saturday night and do not return home until late that night. We wake up Sunday morning as usual and make our way to the kitchen. The house is quiet; it’s raining outside; it’s great sleeping weather. One child is awake, but quietly watching TV. The other two children are still asleep. We crawl into bed and whisper to our spouse, “Let’s skip Mass today.”

We have denied Jesus.

We have a friend that is going through a difficult time. We made plans to spend the day with him or her, to be an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. As we prepare to go to visit our friend, we get a call from another friend. He has extra tickets to the game…can we go? We call our struggling friend with whom we had promised to spend some time. We apologize; we will not be able to come after all because we aren’t feeling well. Then, we head off to the game.

We have denied Jesus.

We drive to the game with our friend, park the car, and begin the walk to the stadium. As we walk, our friend makes fun of nearly everyone that doesn’t look like us or act like us and loudly berates the shabbily dressed man begging for money at the side of the road. We don’t say anything ourselves, but we laugh and we don’t hold our friend accountable in any way.

We have denied Jesus once again, and at that time, we can hear the cock crowing.

The fact is, we deny Jesus on a regular, if not daily, basis. If we haven’t done the exact things suggested in my examples, other similar things probably came to your mind as I spoke. We are flawed human beings and prone to self-centered behavior.

Every time we do something – big or small, mortal or venial – that damages our relationship with Jesus, we deny him. Our tendency is to accept Jesus when it benefits us or when it is easy, but to deny him when his will is in conflict with our will or our desire.

The bad news is we are very much like Peter. We are friends and companions of Jesus right up until that relationship challenges us or makes us uncomfortable.

The good news is we are very much Peter – although broken and sinful, we are able to recover from our denial of Jesus. Remember, Peter went on to lead the Church as its first pope. He ultimately died for his faith, refusing to deny Jesus and willing to give up his life to spread the gospel message.

Our ability to recover is due solely to the gift we are being given these next few days. It comes via the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We did not earn this ability to recover and start anew each time we stumble. Rather, it was a gift. God sacrificed his only Son so that we might have the ability to restore – repeatedly – our damaged relationship with him.

That sacrifice took place on a cross. In a few minutes, we will have the opportunity to venerate the cross. It is our way of saying, “Thank you! Thank you for your love and your mercy.”

God’s love and mercy are offered when we acknowledge him. His love and mercy are offered when we deny him. His love and mercy are offered regardless of how many times the cock crows. His love and his mercy are boundless.

God will not deny us.