Jesus is at the house of Simon. He had been curing the sick and it included Simon’s mother-in-law. Later, He taught from Simon’s boat and even instructed him where to pay out his net. The catch was phenomenal, further confirming that with Christ present, there is always abundance.
The catch proved pivotal in the transforming and deepening relationship between Christ and Simon. Simon who recognised his unworthiness in the presence of His Lord, was given a new mission. From then on, Peter was to be the fisher of men. This episode of their deepening relationship was witnessed by two brothers, James and John. Significantly, the mission to be the fisher of men was addressed to Peter alone.
Now let us return to Nelly, the artist performing for Trump, who was chastised by his fans for daring to dignify or “normalise” the 47th, to which he replied, “I respect the Office. This isn’t politics. The politics, for me, is over. Trump won. He is the President. He is the Commander-in-Chief… It is an honour for me to perform for the President of the United States, regardless of who is in office”.
Today’s Gospel might be the genesis of one of the greatest offices of the world: the Papacy. History has not been kind to the office of the Pope. At best, it has been lukewarm and mostly for the anglophone, the English language is enmeshed in rather strong anti-papist sentiments. After all, English is the mother-tongue of a kingdom that had turned it back on the Pope.
Behind the Office, God stands. This is a powerful statement that finds little currency for some of us. God is the guarantor of the office. Not the politics. We may disagree with the politics of the papacy but we may want to get behind the fact that this office is the only one guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.
There is an element in the Gospel passage today which may provide a way to appreciate the Papacy. Whether it be a President, a Prince or a Pope, we seem to believe that transparency is only way to be. But then, in facing the demons, Jesus disallowed them from acknowledging Him. Why? Scholars believe that to be a part of the Messianic secret where Jesus does not want the demons to proclaim Him. If they had opened their mouths, and the people come to know about Him, He would be severely curtailed in His ministry.
However, the human heart is a landscape which only God knows too well. Yet we believe that transparency is enough and also we are free enough to be the best judge of the human character. Maybe Pope Francis was right. We do not judge because only God knows and it brings us to a topic which is central to the smooth running of the information superhighway. It is the matter of transparency in relationships.
There is a world of a difference between government secrecy and the Messianic secret. Governments view secrecy as a means to govern in the name of a greater good. Yet know that it is often motivated by self-interests. Somehow, Christ also willed secrecy as a means of doing greater good which raises the question of which “secrecy” is the better good. Where does transparency fit in all this? Good journalistic investigations have uncovered or revealed private interests shrouded in shadowy secret or even hiding in plain sight. Whereas the Messianic secret can beunderstood from the perspective of creation. God put Adam to sleep so that He could create Eve. We are not meant to know all secrets and transparency does not always guarantee accountability. This is not advocating apathy. Part of our challenge today is that everyone is a pope. We believe we know everything. We also want to know everything, like Eve greedy for knowledge.
Right now, there is a new sherif in town. More than half the American population is crowing or gloating. Less than half is foaming and perhaps flagellating themselves. The same jubilation and despondency was felt during the transition from Benedict to Francis. Those who love Benedict love him for his erudition and dislike Francis for his easy-going ways. Those who love Francis love him for his iconoclasm and dislike Benedict for his pedantry. These are simply caricatures but the point is there will be some “winners” and some “losers”. Now we have a popular Pope like now we have a popular President. Everything about Pope Francis is amazing. Francis this, Francis that. Everything is Pope Francis. When Benedict was in power, the conservatives were in ascendancy and they were elated. Now that we have a seemingly leftist pope, the liberal are just ecstatic. For conservatives who do not like him, whatever Francis does is raked over with a fine-tooth comb.
The point is popes come and go. A few are scoundrels and some are saints. Most importantly, it is to behold the office and recognise that it is not bestowed by us. Rather it is bequeathed by the Lord to His Church. If we like the Pope, well and good. But if we dislike him, the best we can do is to turn to the Lord and pray for the Pope and by extension the Bishops or the priests. Once I was out for dinner with a group of friends and the conversation drifted towards the character of a priest. A woman in the group casually remarked, “He is a mother’s son”. It was a sobering slander-stopper which drew our attention to how much prayer is necessary for the clergy and the religious. Every vocation is really a history of grace, for it is a calling from being ordinary to becoming extraordinary. All the more prayers and sacrifices are needed for that. Thus, the Church, most especially the Vicar of Christ, needs our prayers and our reparation. The more we pray, the more we will repent and return to God. The more we pray and repent, the better Christ can accomplish His salvation, despite the less than stellar quality of our Popes, our Bishops and our priests. God is great.
