Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Clementine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica
Knights of Columbus Visit to Rome
January 10, 2024
In Peter’s House
We’ve gathered in this chapel named for Pope Clement VII, among the most sacred places in this Basilica, positioned as it is so close to the relics of St. Peter. Like Jesus, therefore, we have entered the house of Peter. Let us experience a spiritual closeness to Peter and his successors. We are accompanied by Peter’s prayers as we encounter Jesus, no longer in the humble structure of Capernaum but in this great Basilica.
But what happens when Jesus enters the human scene? When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he encountered human need. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, we read, lay ill with a life threatening fever. Peter and Andrew did not wring their hands or complain about this bad situation. No, they did what every believer should do: They immediately told Jesus about it, not knowing what he would do.
Human Need
Now, Jesus enters this Clementine Chapel by Word and Sacrament, and just as he encountered human need in Peter’s house in Capernaum, so now he encounters human need in each of us and all of us. I have brought many intentions to this Mass – for myself, my loved ones, the Order, and the Church to which I am wed. I’m sure you have brought a host of intentions of your own.
We often complain about our trials, anguish over them, and try to plan our way beyond them . . . as indeed we should do. But the most important thing we can do is what Peter did: to bring our needs to Jesus. Unlike ourselves, Jesus never tires of petitioners. We cannot wear him out. His patience is inexhaustible.
The Response of Peter’s Mother-in-Law
If mothers-in-law are sometimes depicted as challenging, Peter’s mother-in-law was a model of discipleship. When Jesus gazed at her with a love that penetrated to the core of her being, not only was she physically cured; she was spiritually transformed. Touched by Jesus, she immediately got up from her sick bed and began to attend to the needs of her guests.
We too receive Jesus’ healing touch in the Church’s sacramental life. And what should our response be? It should be like that of young Samuel who said to the Lord, “Speak, your servant is listening.” It should be like that of Peter’s mother-in-law who immediately placed herself at the service of others, giving herself to meeting their needs.
In Service to One, in Service to All
It turns out that our venerable slogan is more than a slogan. As Knights we are “in service to one, in service to all” – and we can only say that began Jesus in the power of the Spirit has transformed us, not superficially, but in the core of our being.
As Jesus comes to us, really, truly, substantially, under the signs of bread of wine, let us welcome him anew, listening with obedient faith, rejoicing in his true presence, ready to duplicate his sacrifice in our service to the vulnerable and needy, just as Blessed Michael McGivney taught us to do. Vivat Jesus!