Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
If you were to research the notion of “The Peter Principle” you would find it is ultimately just a theory first recognized by a Canadian educator named Dr. Laurence J. Peter. Admittedly light in his proposal, he wrote that in any corporate structure a person tends to be promoted until he or she gets to one rung above his or her level of competence. You can be the judge of whether or not this has happened where you work. I know it happens in the Church.
What I propose is “the St. Peter Principle,” It was initiated by the lovable man who become our first pope. Christ’s choice of him put Peter where he was most competent, as leader and bulwark against heresy. Yes, he was imperfect, but he always kept intact his beautiful humility. Evidence of this we have in today’s Gospel.
With transparent frustration, Peter resists Jesus’ command to lower the nets in deep water. “We’ve been at this all night, Lord!” he says. But out of respect for the carpenter’s son, He lowers the nets. When the miracle happens, Peter immediately kneels before Jesus and urges Him to leave sinful company.
Now just freeze the moment and savor it. Note both the power and the beauty. Here a rough and ready fisherman, tired from a hard night’s work, still manages to convert to a ready penitent. Please allow me to stretch this tidy conclusion with a more elusive one. Do you recognize the fact that all Peter, can just St. Peter, can be surprised by God? He frequently supplies something positive and wonderful in our lives, and we routinely forget those when we complain to Him about the inevitable negatives. I leave it to you to name them from your life experience so far.
I prefer it if you were to list the items you acknowledge on Thanksgiving morning. Things like meeting the person you eventually fall in love with enough to bind your life with theirs. This one is most appropriate to think about on this “World Day of Marriage” in our Church calendar. Or the happy diagnosis given one by the cancer specialist. Or the unexpected raise given you by the boss. Or the return to the faith by a non-practicing family member, to name a few. But note how the “St. Peter Principle” kicks in. It is your humility showing when you compose such a list. It urges you kneel and be grateful that God does not run away from you. Listen to the great Pope Gregory the Great: “God first gathered the unlearned, afterwards philosophers, nor has he taught fishermen by orators, but has subdued orators by fishermen.”
God love you and give you His peace.
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Isaiah 6: 1-2a, 3-8
The burning coal signifies Christ coming to us from the altar. Having seen the Lord’s glory, Isaiah is sent on a mission.
Reading II: I Corinthians 15: 1-11, or 15: 3-8, 11
Paul tells of his calling, and the basic content of his preaching about Jesus crucified and risen.
The Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11
Luke stresses that Christian discipleship demands a sense of humility in the face of God’s often surprising ways.