The Election of a new Pope is a matter of prayerful concern for all Christians, whether Roman Catholic or not. As the Cardinal’s meet in Conclave at St. Peter’s to choose the man they see as St. Peter’s successor, I thought it might be timely to remember the disciple who, for all his many mistakes, knew how to recover and hold on, who, for all his waverings, was called by Jesus ‘the rock’, who learned the threefold lesson that every betrayal can ultimately be restored by love.
As always you can her the poem by clicking on the ‘play’ button, or on the title of the poem.
St. Peter
Impulsive master of misunderstanding
You comfort me with all your big mistakes;
Jumping the ship before you make the landing,
Placing the bet before you know the stakes.
I love the way you step out without knowing,
The way you sometimes speak before you think,
The way your broken faith is always growing,
The way he holds you even when you sink.
Born to a world that always tried to shame you,
Your shaky ego vulnerable to shame,
I love the way that Jesus chose to name you,
Before you knew how to deserve that name.
And in the end your Saviour let you prove
That each denial is undone by love.
Malcolm Guite 