The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-03-20

guilt made Simon see in the wisdom
and works of Jesus the veritable Son
of God. TO Christ's question Whom
do you say that / ann" He promptly
answered ''Thou art Christ, the Son
of the living Cod" We need not
dwell long on the reply of Jesus:
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona.
And / say to thee thou art Peter
(the rock and upon this rock | shall.
build my Church" (Math. XVI, 49,.
These words are a promise of the
greatest iuridic power ever conferred
on man.
The First Pit,a@H.
Simon, therefore, whose mother-in-
law had been restored to health at
Jesus touch, who was the first to be
called a follower, who was likewise
the first to be called an Apostle, and
who at the word Of the Master had
walked on the water, with this re-
iterated approval and final blessing
was the happiest of mortals. But
suddenly there came dark dismay.
Christ began to talk of suffering, of
ignominy, of death as His portion by
the will of the Father. Then it was
that that other other love all too
human in Simon was stung into re-
belliOn. He had had experience of
what death and separation mean. He
recoiled from the thought of such a
repetition, and losing mastery of him.
self he said to Christ most passion
ately: Lord be it far from thee, this
shall not be unto thee" How blind
the unreasoning love even of the high
est object can make us! o words in
considerate indeed! AS if He, whose
meat and drink it was to do the will
of the Father, would not resent them!
And resent them He did with these
words measured to kill rebellious love,
the cause of such presumptive intru-
sion. go behind me, satan, thou art
scandal to me, because thou SAVIOUR
est not the things of God but the
things of men,
Terrible words these! If the mid
day sun had been blotted out, if he
himself had been plunged into an icy
cavern, a. greater darkness and a
greater chill would not have envelop-
ed Simon, than at these words. He
not only felt what blunder he had
made, but Keeling under that scathing
denunciatiOn, he remembered those
other words, not, however, intended
for him: "Have / not chosen you
twelve and one of you is devil?"
Only those, who have assembled to the
very heights can be plunged to the
lowest depths. Henceforth Simon
will be prey to an ever-consuming
dread. The Master who is chasten-
ing him, will in compassion from time
to time, it is true, bring him some
respite. He caused Simon to find in
the mouth of the fish a slater where
with to pay tribute for them both:
He invited him with James and John,
two others, whom He had occasion
severely to censure, to that vision on
ThabOr. There the poor heart-sore
disciple felt peace at last. Lord" he
exclaimed sit is good for, us to be
here" But it was only momentary.
Again they descended and again there
were those predictions Of coming
evil. To crown all, it was predicted
on that last memorable night with
Jesus, that one of them would be a
traitor. Choking with emotion Simon
burst not ask directly, who might be
the one. Now all this the Master or
dained, in order to clear Simon's low.
ing heart from it's rebellion against
the will of Heaven, and to chasten
love with suffering.
The Second PitfaII.
But no warning was able to convince
him that his love for Christ might
die out. Here he imagined that he
was sure of himself. Let Satan sift
him indeed, let all the world abandon
the Saviour, of one thing he was con-
fident and that was that to the end
he would love his Master. He was
building on his feelings, his senses;
he did not yet understand that there
is no human being, in whom one set
of sense impressions may not be
forced out by another, and that he,
who builds on sentiment alone, is lay
ing foundation on most unstable
ground. | need not go over the events
of Gethsemani. There are indica-
tions of the nervous tension, which all
the Apostles suffered on that mystic
rious night. The heavy slumber in the
garden, the readiness to take violent
issue with the whole crowd, the pre-
cipitate flight and quick return, above
all that strange outburst of profanity,
pletely unstrung. Do not be scandal
lied at this profanity | have heard
tender innocent children, when over
wrought by pain, say terrible words.
Living in an atmosphere of sin, we
gather into the receptacle of our sub
consciousness Shiny evils; it is not
good to stir them up. But Simon's be-
ing was stirred to its depth. Under
the fear of becoming that traitor fore.
told, under the stress of human re-
spect, in the chill Of that desolate
night, in that onset of fretfulness
when unfeeling by-standers would not
leave him alone to his gloomy
thoughts, that human love, on which
he had relied, broke down and van
| ished Denial of Christ followed upon
denial, then oath upon oath,-a per-
petual reminder to all not to over es.
innate human strength. The catas-
trophe of the tragedy had come. The