Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: The denial of St Peter and our own unfaithfulness

Monday, June 29, 2020

The denial of St Peter and our own unfaithfulness

Today being the Solemnity if Sts Peter & Paul got me reflecting on the denial of St Peter and my own unfaithfulness during the Covid pandemic while churches closed.

At the beginning of the year as you can see from previous posts I was getting back into my faith, the sacraments, going to Mass up to 5 times a week and praying Divine Office daily. Then the pandemic struck...

Just before it did, my brother who I have lived with for 6 years got a girlfriend and moved out (great news is I have recently found out now I will be an uncle Praise God 🙏). Then Covd hit, my hours at work got halved and I had too much time on my hands trying to adjust to being home alone - feeling isolated and depressed. During this time I fell back into sinful habits, acted out and rarely prayed.

My unfaithfulness during this time reminded me of St Peter’s denial of our Lord. We can be so passionate and enthusiastic about our love for Jesus, yet when adversity hits then our weakness and cowardice surfaces, just like St Peter.

But we can also remember the Lord is merciful and always ready to forgive us as soon as we turn to Him. Jesus asks us to love Him and trust Him again and again, not counting our faults but showing new mercies every moment. Jesus is faithful to us in spite of our own unfaithfulness - like St Peter, we too can become great saints through repentance.

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.