thee[1] that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. All of you shall be scandalized [2] in Me this night. For it is written: ‘I will strike[3] the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed.’” [4]
COMMENTARY.
The Omniscience of Jesus. Our Lord exactly foretold both that Judas would betray Him, and that, in the same night before the second cockcrow, St. Peter would deny Him three times, and that all the Apostles would desert Him. Only the omniscient God can know beforehand what man, gifted with free-will, will do. St. Peter himself thought it quite impossible that he could deny his beloved Master, and yet our Lord foretold in detail all that would occur. This proves that our Blessed Lord was omniscient, or, in other words, that He is God.
St. Peter's self-confidence. We have repeatedly had occasion to admire St. Peter’s faith, and love of our Lord. Even in the story we have just read, the chief of the apostles evinced great love and great faith, declaring that he would never take scandal at anything that Jesus did, and was ready to lay down his life for His sake. Peter seriously and honestly meant what he said, but he trusted too much in himself, overrated his own strength and, forgetting the weakness of his human nature, believed himself capable of remaining faithful to his Master under all circumstances, simply because he wished to do so. His will was good, but he was wanting in that humility which comes from a knowledge of one’s own frailty. He ought to have thought and said: “With Thy help I will never fail”; but, instead of this, he put himself on a different level from the other apostles, and implied that, although they might very easily go astray, he never could! This high opinion of himself, and his undue selfconfidence led him to the fall which will be related in chapter LXXII. We should never forget that, without the assistance of God’s grace, we can neither keep the commandments nor persevere in well-doing.
The Pope is the Supreme and Infallible Teacher of Faith. Our Lord foretold to St. Peter that he would deny Him, but at the same time
- ↑ I have prayed for thee. This prayer of our Lord was efficacious. He knew that Peter, though he might fall through weakness, would not lose his faith, but would rise up again after his fall, with faith as strong as ever. He knew this beforehand; for He said: “and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.”
- ↑ Scandalized. You will be offended, and staggered by what you will see to-night.
- ↑ I will strike, i. e. suffer Him to be put to a violent death. Almighty God knew beforehand that this would happen, and foretold it by the mouth of the prophet Zacharias.
- ↑ Dispersed. Those who are His followers will flee hither and thither helplessly.
