Reflections 2006
God's power made perfect in weakness

This coming Thursday (29 June), the universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.

The preface in the liturgy for the Solemnity calls Saint Peter “our leader in the faith” and Saint Paul the “fearless preacher” of the faith.  Peter is said to have “raised up the Church from the faithful flock of Israel” and Paul took this calling “to the nations, and became the teacher of the world.” So “each in his chosen way gathered into unity the one family of Christ.” The preface concludes by saying that “both shared a martyr’s death and are praised throughout the world.”

The Apostles Peter and Paul are sometimes called “the pillars of the church.” This reflects what the Scriptures say about the Church, that it is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” (Eph 2:20) There is no contradiction between this statement and other scriptural passages describing Christ himself as the foundation (eg. 1 Cor 3:11) because the Apostles were the representatives or “vicars” of Christ. For the same reason, although the Church recognises Jesus as the “Rock” (1 Cor 10:4), Jesus himself called Saint Peter “the rock on which I will build my Church.” (Matt 16:18)

There is a simple truth here: we cannot separate Jesus from his Apostolic Church. The Church is the body of Christ. It is not possible to say, “I believe in Christ, but I do not believe the Church,” for Christ and his Church are one. This is not to deny that the Church can often appear to be very flawed. It is a human community, a society of real human beings as well as a supernatural community. It is a holy community, not because of any intrinsic holiness that its members may have of their own, but because of the continual gift of sanctifying grace God bestows upon the Church through Christ.

Some years ago, in a prominent Australian city church, the bulletin for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul welcomed worshippers to “this great feast day of the Pillars of the Church.” On the back of the bulletin was a notice about the new fundraising drive for the restoration of the church building. This notice listed the building’s structural problems and included the fact that “the pillars of the church have salt-damp!” The humour was, of course, unintentional, but an important point can be made. God does not wait for human beings to be made perfect before he calls them for his work and mission. Peter and Paul were both “flawed” saints – or, as the Holy Father put it recently, while describing Peter in one of his regular Wednesday audiences, “believing sinners.”

Besides the Solemnity on 29 June, the Church commemorates both Apostles separately with two other feasts in the calendar: the Confession of Saint Peter on 18th January and the Conversion of Saint Paul on 25 January. Both these celebrations mark significant events in the lives of each Apostle, but curiously both also bring to mind the personal weaknesses of each.

When we read beyond the account of Saint Peter’s confession “You are the Christ” (Matt 16:16), we immediately read that Peter then tried to dissuade Christ from his mission to die on the cross. (Matt 16:22)  Pope Benedict has said that Peter was not really looking for the sort of Messiah that God would send, but for a “divine man,” someone who would fulfil his own expectations of what a Messiah should be.

Saint Paul came from a background that was even more questionable. The commemoration on 25 January marks Paul’s conversion from active persecution of the Church to faith in Christ. Paul (or Saul as he was known then) was the one who was in charge of putting to death the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. When Christ appeared to him on the road, he was on his way to Antioch to arrest the Christians there. Christ’s words to him were “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4)

Again two events later in their lives show how these personal weaknesses and blemishes of the Apostles were not obstacles for God. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul tells how he had asked God to remove from him a “thorn in the flesh.” We are never told what this “thorn” was, and imagination does not help us much at this point. All we know is that Paul regarded this “thorn” as a “torment” and as something that kept him from having too much pride. He prayed to God three times asking that this “thorn” be removed, but always he received the same answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)

In a recent catechesis, the Holy Father drew attention to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Peter recorded in John 21:15-19. He points to a significant nuance in the original language that does not come through in our English translations. When Jesus asks, “Peter, do you love me?” he uses the word which Saint John uses when he writes “God is love” – the word for strong sacrificial love: “Agape.” But when Peter replies he uses a different word: “Phile.” This word means strong attachment and friendship and loyalty, but it is not quite on the same level as Agape-love. Again, Jesus asks if Peter loves him with Agape-love, and again Peter replies by affirming his Phile-love. Then finally Jesus himself changes the vocabulary and asks if Peter loves him with the lesser Phile-love, and Peter is finally able to respond at this level – on the level of which he is capable.

There is an old saying that in prayer we should “pray as we can, not as we can’t.” Here it almost seems as if Jesus is saying to Peter, “Love me as you can, not as you can’t.” Pope Benedict interprets Jesus’ conversation with Peter in an astonishing way: “We know that Jesus adapts himself to our weakness.” Peter, by his false expectations of a super-human Messiah and by his denial of Jesus during his passion, had shown that he himself was less than a superhero of faith. But even though Peter’s expectations of Jesus may have needed some modifications, Jesus had no unreal expectations of Peter. It was upon this man – a man of great faith but also of great weakness – that Jesus would build his Church.

Pope Benedict said that when Jesus called Peter he was inviting him “to let himself be involved in a great adventure.” This adventure would not be “a triumphal march, but a journey strewn with sufferings and love, trials and faithfulness to be renewed every day.” The Pope went on to say that “it was a long journey for Peter that made him a trustworthy witness, “rock” of the Church, being constantly open to the action of the Spirit of Jesus.”

Yes, even the “Pillars of the Church” had human flaws and weaknesses, yet God revealed the power of his grace in their weakness. I wish to assure you that neither will your weaknesses prove a barrier to God’s Spirit. Jesus invites us to join him, with Saint Peter and Saint Paul, on the same great adventure of faith, and to trust, not in the strength of our own love for him, but in his constant and never-ending love for us.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.