Peter & Pentecost

It is interesting to see that the name of Peter appears in the readings of Friday and Saturday preceding Pentecost. Though not officially on any of the readings of Pentecost Sunday, his name is all over there on the readings of Pentecost. The main actor of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit and there is no doubt of that. But I consider Peter could be seen as a model for the Church, or for any disciple, especially as we celebrate Pentecost during the time of a crisis.

It is good to put yourself in the place of the Founder of a great organization and whether you would like to have somebody like Peter as its head. Whatever be the response, Jesus opted for somebody like him. Peter has good leadership skills (some may disagree here too); like all other disciples, he didn’t understand the mission of Jesus; he denied Jesus in the worst possible way. And after the Pentecost, he preached brilliantly (and without fear). He changed his decisions/opinions many times during the initial stages of the church.

Why Peter is a good model in the current context?

The current crisis tells us our old normals were not fit enough… our development models were not apt for everyone, especially the poor and the creation.

That is the invitation of Pentecost…. To allow the Spirit to come into all our brokenness, to make us people who really care for each other and for the creation…. To make us individuals who are ready to change and be transformed like Peter…

Probably you could watch a beautiful prayer of Pentecost done by Jesuits of South Asia in the context of the present crisis….