Sunday in the Octave of St Peter's: Listen
When Brother Bruno was at prayer one night he was disturbed by the croaking of a bullfrog. All his attempts to disregard the sound were unsuccessful so he shouted from his window, “Quiet! I am at my prayers!”
Now, Brother Bruno was a saint so his command was instantly obeyed. Every living creature held its voice so as to create a silence that would be favourable to prayer.
But now another sound intruded on Bruno’s worship – an inner voice that said, “Maybe God is as pleased with the croaking of that frog as with the chanting of your psalms.”
“What can please the ears of God in the croak of a frog?” was Bruno’s scornful rejoinder. But the voice refused to give up: “Why would you think God invented the sound?”
Bruno decided to find out why. He leaned out of his window and gave the order, “Sing!” The bullfrog’s measured croaking filled the air to the ludicrous accompaniment of all the frogs in the vicinity. And as Bruno attended to the sound, their voices ceased to jar for he discovered that, if he stopped resisting them, they actually enriched the silence of the night.
With that discovery Bruno’s heart became harmonious with the universe and, for the first time in his life, he understood what it means to pray.
Anthony de Mello, Prayer of the Frog, vol. 1, p. 3
Listen! There are times we all need to hear things at a deeper level. Words of truth usually take time to seep into our inner being; to touch places they haven’t touched before; to bring forgiveness and healing. This is the thrust of today’s gospel. Simon Peter needs to hear something that his Lord has to say to him. Something that is hard to hear.
“Simon son of John.” Jesus addresses him by his family name. Early in the gospel (Jn 1:42) he is given a nick-name: Peter, Cephas, the Rock-man (see W. Temple Readings in St. John’s Gospel vol. 1, p. 29) but now, at the end of the gospel, he is just plain old Simon again, John’s son. “Do you love me more than these?” his Lord asks. “More than boats, nets, fish, food, family, friends? More than all these things that were the focus of your life before you made the decision to follow me? Do you love me more than these, now that I am gone?” “Yes, Lord; you know that I do. I am your friend. I love you.” “Well, in that case, feed my lambs. You have a job to do. You have a pastoral responsibility that comes with Christ-love. Feed my lambs.”
There is such a masterful play on words in the original Greek dialogue in John’s gospel. Our Lord’s first “do you love me?” is agape-love, self-sacrificial love, divine love, the highest form of love. Peter’s response however is philo-love, a friend’s love, down to earth, human love. It is perhaps not quite enough. Not yet. Has he listened?
“Simon son of John, do you love me dearly, with agape-love?”
“Yes, Lord; you know that I do. I am your friend. I love you.”
“Well, tend my sheep.”
It is still not enough. It requires a third time before our patron saint finally hears. Maybe then a tear wells up in his eyes. For it was three times that he denied even knowing his master - what betrayal - and then the cock crowed; all that guilt, all that failure, all that human frailty.
“Simon son of John, do you love me? Do you love me as a friend?” This time they are speaking the same language; philo-love. “Yes, Lord; you know that I do. I am your friend. I love you. I am sorry for my failings, for my denials, for my weakness. I am a flawed human being, but I do love you deeply.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus responds, “and follow me.”
What is it that you and I need to hear today I wonder? What is our song of the bullfrog? Forgiveness of past sins perhaps? God’s call into a future ministry direction? What truth needs to seep into our souls? What is the Spirit saying to our church?
As I now embark on my tenth and final year of ministry as your Vicar, I have been reflecting on our journey together since 2012. I think that we have been listening to the Spirit’s movement in our midst, painful as that has been at times. Priests who are women now regularly participate fully in the Mass. We have maintained a deep commitment to the full inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people at every level of leadership in our community. Through the newly established social enterprise, we have doubled down on our commitment to social justice and social inclusion. Our chaplaincies to Parliament and RMIT University have flourished. And thanks to the generosity of parishioners past and present, and some rolling up of sleeves and hard work, our historic buildings and grounds are undergoing a fairly major face-lift.
The coming months and years will be a time for further listening. Listening to where the Spirit of God may be calling you next as a church. Listening to one another, our struggles as well as our joys. Listening for signs of healing and growth. Above all, like St Peter, we need to listen deeply to the love that God has for us; to receive and offer forgiveness; to recommit to following Christ; and to learn again and again the lesson of loving one another, even our enemies, as God loves us. Listen!