As I prepared this reflection, I looked as I always do for a sign to guide me to where I was headed. And then I found my friend Peter with his foibles and flawed and recognizable humanity in the gospel. I have come to know that if Peter is in the story, expect turmoil, mistakes and surprises, yet I know to expect forgiveness, transformation and a relationship becoming new on the horizon.
Peter, named as rock, is called by God to be the foundation of the church. Today’s reading reminds me that my own humanity is my own foundation of faith. As with Peter, my humanity offers challenge and reconciliation and new depth to my covenant with God. Peter was changed, I am changed. God delights in my humanity, as I ever learn to grow more deeply in the reality of God’s never ending love. My flawed humanity mirrors Peter. I too am that rock on which this church is built.
—Mary-Burke Peterson is a parishioner at St. Nicholas Church, Evanston, IL, an active volunteer in the Ignatian Spirituality Project, and a graduate student at Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago.