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3rd Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Terranuova Hermitage
April 14, 2013
Rebuilding Trust
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Car Keys
A
17 year-old teenager named Bob really messed up one evening.
His
mom and Dad let him use the car on a Saturday night to take his girlfriend to
the movies. Unfortunately, things got a
bit out of hand.
On
the way to the movies, Bob and his girlfriend picked up a couple of other
friends. Bob was talking, not paying
enough attention to his driving, and ran a stoplight.
A
policeman pulled him over. And beyond
the red light issue, an open beer can – not Bob’s, but one of his friend’s –
was found in the back seat.
Bob’s
parents were called and came to the scene.
Without a word, he sheepishly handed over the car keys to Mom and Dad. He
didn’t expect to see them again for a long time.
Two
days later, Mom asked Bob if he could take his grandmother to her doctor’s
appointment after school. She handed Bob
the car keys.
Bob
took his grandmother to the appointment and even on some other errands. He returned home and … handed the keys back
to Mom.
Later
that week, Mom was delayed at work. She
called Bob and asked him to pick up some things for dinner.
Bob
took the extra set of car keys from the kitchen drawer and headed out to ShopRite. On the way he got a call on his cell phone from
some of his friends who were asking him to go the mall with them.
Bob
said no and just proceeded to the supermarket.
He came home, unpacked the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, and again,
put the car keys back in the kitchen drawer.
The
following Saturday, Bob’s father asked him to go over to Home Depot to get some
mulch. Dad tossed the car keys to Bob
and he headed out.
An
hour later Bob came home and helped his father with the yard work. When they stopped for some lunch, Bob, once
again, handed the car keys back to his father, but this time, something very
different happened.
His
Dad, said very matter-of-factly, “No, son,
you hold on to them.”
Jesus and Peter
Bob’s Mom and Dad understood that they must hold
their son accountable for what he had done, but they also gave Bob a chance to
restore their trust in him. They wanted
the relationship to be restored.
This is what Jesus does with Peter in today’s
gospel. Jesus knows that Peter denied
him three times during his passion.
Nor has Peter hasn’t forgotten this either. So, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”
Jesus does not taunt Peter or put him down or
offensively get in his face. He just
gives Peter the chance to respond positively.
Peter does this and the relationship gets
restored. In fact, Jesus entrusts Peter
with great responsibility – to feed his lambs and his sheep, in other words, to
succeed him as shepherd.
Our Relationships
Many of us have had similar experiences. We
have had our trust broken in a relationship.
We have been disappointed.
This happens between friends, between spouses,
between parents and children, between an employers and employees.
The example of Jesus and of Bob’s parents is
helpful for us.
We are not to brush the breach of trust under
the carpet. We are not to pretend that
it didn’t happen.
We are to deal with the issue and deal with it
as respectfully as we can. And we are to
make concrete attempts to give the other person the chance to respond over time
and regain our trust.
Conclusion
This can happen with actions – as with Bob and
his parents. And it can happen with
words – as with Peter and Jesus.
It is challenging, and sometimes very
difficult, because of hurt or raw feelings, but this chance of restoration of
trust is what Jesus calls us to today.
There must be at least one relationship we
have that calls for that kind of rebuilding.
