Advent has been called Little Lent, because it is a time of repentance in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth.
In Greek, “repentance” is metanoia—a “turning.”
The pope’s message is that “Peter turned.” In one of his recent homilies, Francis talked about how, late at night on Holy Thursday, Peter denied Jesus three times. Then Peter heard a rooster crow and realized that he had lost everything when he denied the Lord. Precisely at that moment, Jesus was led to another room, across the courtyard, and fixed his gaze on Peter. “The Gospel of Luke,” Pope Francis said, “recounts that ‘Peter cried bitterly.’
“However,” Francis continued, “that looked changed Peter’s heart” (homily,
May 22, 2015.)
Pope Francis urged his listeners to think about Jesus’ gaze on us. “He always looks at us with love,” the Pope promised.
Our prayer today:
Peter W. Yaremko, a former journalist, is the owner of Executive Media, Inc. and is a specialist in executive communications. He attends St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, Massachusetts and blogs at peterwyaremko.com/paradise_diaries.