by Father Jean-Pierre Ruiz
My day began earlier than usual on Sunday, May 18, because, like many others, I wanted to witness the Mass for the inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.
I found the beginning of the liturgy especially moving, as the new pope descended the steps to the Confessio, the area in front of the main altar of the Vatican Basilica. Accompanied by patriarchs of
the Eastern Churches in union with Rome, Pope Leo stood praying before the tomb of St. Peter.
I wonder what he might have been asking that Galilean fisherman to whom Jesus promised he would be
catching people instead of fish. Perhaps they chatted about that day when Jesus polled his disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
When they dodged the question by reporting what “some say” and what “others” were saying, Jesus insisted — “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter spoke up: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” How did he come up with that? This is among the questions I would have for Peter.
Plainspoken as the Gospels portray him, Peter may have answered that he did not have a clue! It was Jesus who explained, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” That identifies who was responsible for blessing Peter with this revelation, but not how he received it.
The Gospels say not a word about whether Peter or any others among the Twelve had any formal education. We are told that he and his brother Andrew were fisherfolk, and fishing had probably been their family business for generations.
It is not until the chapter after this Sunday’s Gospel that Matthew tells about the transfiguration of Jesus, to which Peter, James, and John were privileged witnesses, so the “how” of the divine revelation of Jesus’ identity to Simon Peter is likely to have been much more subtle. We might conclude that it was the fruit of the invitation that Jesus extended and that Simon Peter accepted.
In following Jesus, Peter came to know him in the everyday experience of discipleship. Recognizing Jesus as the Anointed One, the Son of the living God, wasn’t some vague idea planted in Peter’s mind, but the profound heaven-sent truth he received by accompanying Jesus day by day.
Jesus wasn’t done yet, and what came next may have astonished Peter even more: “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Jesus chose Peter not because he passed the test and got the answer right. He knew instead that Peter would always have to rely on God’s grace, not on his own merits or strengths, to accomplish what he was called to do.
Peter wasn’t perfect, and he would learn the hard way — as did his fellow apostle Paul — that power is made perfect in weakness. As Paul explains, “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me; … for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9-10).
As we invoke God’s grace to accompany Pope Leo XIV in his Petrine ministry, let us also pray through the intercession of Sts. Peter and Paul, that each of us might rely on that grace to be faithful in the discipleship to which Christ himself calls each of us.
Father Jean-Pierre Ruiz, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, is a professor of theology at St. John’s University.