But Peter said, “My friend, I do not know what you are talking about.” Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly.  

During this session of the movie “The Lord of the Rings—The Return of the King,” Denethor, Steward of the land of Gondor, overcome with personal grief at the loss of his son Boromir, makes a serious mistake with his son Faramir. And Faramir himself, led on by the selfish desire to have his father’s love, likewise makes a mistake. At the same time, hobbits Sam and Frodo, both under the influence of the ring and the selfishness it caused, make mistakes that could have resulted in the dissolution of their life-long friendship.

What causes people to make mistakes? In one of his books Alexander Solzhenitsyn writes: “It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes. We make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it agrees with our emotions—especially selfish ones.” In other words, we tend to make mistakes because our own selfishness plays a larger part in what we are trying to do than it should.

For example, we study the person of Peter the Apostle. According to the Gospels, early in his ministry with Jesus, he was a person of ambition, a person who may have styled himself to be a leader of the followers of Jesus some day. But he also felt fear, personal fear, the chance of being taken captive because Jesus had been captured, the fear of ridicule by others who did not like the Nazareon he was following, the fear of being physically beaten by the Romans—selfish motives. Feeling such excessive fear, even though he had previously said that he would never deny Jesus, nonetheless he did. He made the mistake because of his own selfishness in the face of the pressure of the moment.

We cannot help making mistakes. It happens because we are human. We are not perfect. Consequently, mistakes are a “given” in our living. What is necessary for Christian living is that we understand why we make the mistakes that we do. Sometimes the mistakes are small and can be forgotten, but when the mistakes result in conclusions that we never wanted, perhaps we must study them with the intention of learning from them. It is at that time that we should study especially any selfishness in our motivation. Learning about our selfishness will result in healthier lives and fewer mistakes.                  

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son’s Apostle Peter made a serious mistake because of his own selfishness. To his credit, however, he realized it, and learned from the mistake during the rest of his life. Help us learn from our mistakes, and continually move closer to you and your Son. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America