When Jesus spoke to Peter in today's Gospel he said, " . . . 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." (Jn 21:15-19)
We can all relate to this statement. Aging is a process that takes us on different paths we never thought would happen to us: a loss of hearing or sight, a diminishment of the strength we had in younger years, the unwanted chronic illness or the death of loved ones and friends. John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus said this to Peter because he knew the kind of death that awaited him.
Years ago, I saw the movie Peter and Paul, with actor Anthony Hopkins, who played Paul and Robert Foxworth, who played Peter. It left a great impression upon me because as Peter was being crucified, he thought of Paul's words in Romans 8:38: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,* nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,* nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It seems to me, that Peter who had a history of not always getting Jesus' teachings correct, scored big time with this one. He let the unshakeable trust and faith he had in Christ's love for him, carry him to the end.
I believe that growing old spiritually is optional for one who follows the Risen Christ, especially if we, like Peter and Paul, understand the richness of the fact that nothing we endure in our life, can ever separate us from this love.
We can all relate to this statement. Aging is a process that takes us on different paths we never thought would happen to us: a loss of hearing or sight, a diminishment of the strength we had in younger years, the unwanted chronic illness or the death of loved ones and friends. John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus said this to Peter because he knew the kind of death that awaited him.
Years ago, I saw the movie Peter and Paul, with actor Anthony Hopkins, who played Paul and Robert Foxworth, who played Peter. It left a great impression upon me because as Peter was being crucified, he thought of Paul's words in Romans 8:38: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,* nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,* nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It seems to me, that Peter who had a history of not always getting Jesus' teachings correct, scored big time with this one. He let the unshakeable trust and faith he had in Christ's love for him, carry him to the end.
I believe that growing old spiritually is optional for one who follows the Risen Christ, especially if we, like Peter and Paul, understand the richness of the fact that nothing we endure in our life, can ever separate us from this love.
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