BUT HE who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  [Jn 10:2-4]   Artist: Victor Luciano Rebuffo (1903-1983) Buenos Aires, Argentina

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" ^_[1]

WIRE CALLED TIME

1.  In the hot summer of 1948, the first week of August, a small, stooped old man picked up a 24 ft., 24 lb. balancing pole. He stepped onto a 320 ft. long cable, and set out high above South Boulder Canyon near Eldorado Springs, Colorado.^[2] He wore camel-hide shoes. A torrent of water surged 125 ft. below him. A crowd gathered below to see what?  [cf. Mt 11:7-9]  A laughingstock? A violent death? Life is often described as a balancing act, a performance in which we juggle the weight of our responsibilities, struggle to stave off the forces of disorder, and strive eagerly to minimize disharmony or other unpleasant consequences of human behavior. We do these things, not for entertainment, but for the sake of necessity. If we do not, we will lose our equilibrium. We will fall and suffer greatly. Deprived of moral balance, stripped of spiritual poise, we place ourselves at great risk, even mortal danger of life and soul. Conceivably, this is why a crowd gathered at the bottom of Colorado's South Bluff Canyon on a hot day in the summer of 1948. They were fascinated with the elderly man's attempt to reprise a spectacular feat he accomplished there many years ago. The crowd, too, was attracted by the danger that a fierce-eyed, mustachioed widower courted on his birthday.^[3] But perhaps it made some of them think about the meaning of life. And how fragile life is. And how all of us walk on a wire called time that stretches from birth to death. Yes, the crowd gathered below because they were attracted vicariously to danger. But they wanted the old-timer to succeed, to beat the odds. Anything could go wrong. If he fell, no amount of things done right would make a difference. Our beloved Peter, while not afraid to step forward in life, was impulsive. His headlong stampede into the unknown resulted occasionally in some stunning mishaps. It appears that, as often as the apostle Peter did the right thing, he countered it by doing the wrong thing. By saying to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God"  [Mt 16:16], he showed sensibility and acute perception. Unfortunately, this admirable leap of faith on his part lasted mere moments. The fisherman's spiritual flight ended by a collision with his own humanity. Just when Peter sent Jesus' heart soaring with his confession of faith, he dashed Our Lord's joy and delight to the ground with his appalling boobishness. Now and then, he offered Jesus well-intentioned but self-serving counsel:  "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you."  [Mt 16:22]  Jesus rebuked Peter for tempting him, as Satan had done, to jump off, to abandon the Father's mission  "to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him".  [Acts 2:39]  Could Our Lord ever forget how Lucifer set him on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and whispered, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you, and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."  [Mt 4:6]  Jesus, weary of the Evil One's harassment, replied, "Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."  [Mt. 4:7]  Yet, we do not sit in judgment of Peter. Is not Peter's weakness our own? Is not Peter's frailty the human condition? Peter's impulsive humanity reminds us that life is mirrored aptly by the changing seasons, a procession of risings and fallings, dyings and rebirths.^[4]

BY GRACE, PREPARED

2.  Peter was a young man when he was called by Jesus. He was strong, gregarious, and had a pleasing nature. Peter often worked the night shift to support his family, and could haul single-handedly a net bursting with fish from boat to shore. Skilled in the knowledge of fishing and sailing, Peter was a successful entrepreneur. He had an instinct for what was right. He was impulsive. Peter knew the meaning of failure, the importance of repentance. He was a leader. When confronted with the most important decision of his life, Peter chose well. He followed the Lord who promised that he would be a fisher of men  [cf. Lk 5:9], and he sought always to do his very best. When confronted with evil, invariably he would choose the good. By grace, Peter was being prepared for the day when he would preach fearlessly:  "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  [Acts 2:38]  On occasion, Peter's leaps of faith from the terra firma  (Lat. firm earth)  of humanity, did not end with his feet on the gold, transparent via caeli  (Lat. street of heaven)  of the new Jerusalem. Perhaps this is why we identify more easily with Peter as sinner than as prince. Almost at the midpoint between walking in the flesh^[5] to walking in the Spirit, Peter would halt in doubt, unable to summon the courage to pursue his spiritual destiny. Sensing difficulty, intuiting the sacrifice required, perceiving the cross, the fisherman would panic and retreat back to what was familiar and secure. If Jesus allowed Peter and apostles to cling to him, he could not have ascended to his Father in heaven. Some years after Our Lord's ascension, St. Paul commented on the tension of living in the world but not being of the world  [cf. 2Cor 1:12; 1Cor 2:12], of walking with one foot on earth and the other in heaven. Writing to the Church at Philippi, he declared:  "If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two.  My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account."  [Phi 1:22-24]  The example of Peter reminds us that God gives dignity to man for the fulfillment of his personhood. In turn, man must make an offering of faithfulness to the Father's will. We do the right thing not for the sake of tranquility or prosperity or power or self-satisfaction, but because it is God's truth. Living out divine truth almost always causes us to endure suffering for the sake of righteousness  [cf. 1Pet 2:20], to surrender the world's goods, to renounce aggression and to die to our personal autonomy for the sake of the God's kingdom. If it does not, we have taken early retirement from authentic discipleship. 

SKY ABOVE, DEATH BELOW

3.  The old fellow suspended in space high over the canyon over 50 years ago was once, like Peter, young. For three decades before World War I, he toured the world as an entertainer. The professor, as he was called, plunged into nets from astonishing heights, barnstormed the country with dare-devil hot-air balloon rides and made heart-stopping parachute jumps. The professors lasting fame, however, was earned on the high wire where his only companions were sky above and death below. In 1907, Professor Baldwin was at the peak of his powers. It was then that the 53 112 lb. giant first went to Eldorado Springs to walk a steel cable 635 ft. long and 582 ft. high. Fourteen thousand people watched him cross to the other side after pausing at the midpoint to stand on his head. Later, the professor settled down in Colorado. His children grew up and went in different directions. The years flew by. His wife died. The world forgot him. Individuals and nations alike eagerly anticipate the peak of their powers, the height of their fame. As Catholics, our Eldorado, our City of Gold is the heavenly Jerusalem. How do we get from the city of Man to the city of the new Jerusalem? How does the Lord call us to leap in faith from the known to the unknown? How does he want his pilgrim people to walk the wire of time? First, among many answers that we receive in prayer, God wants us to seek a balanced life, one in which the temporal and spiritual realms are integrated fully. Christians are to live ordered lives of spirit and flesh in perfect symmetry, for few things are more beautiful in the world than the harmonious, proportioned unity of the Church. There is one shepherd who is Jesus Christ and one flock, the Church he founded in his name. To the Church, and the world in which it dwells, the Holy Trinity speaks with one voice--the voice of Christ the True Shepherd. Christ, the Father's only-begotten Son, enters the sheepfold through the gate. In the order and likeness of Melchizedek, he perfects the ancient high priesthood and assumes care of the flock. Hence, divinity--through the incarnation--enters the world through humanity. There is one stranger, the ancient enemy of Christ who leads thieves and robbers to prey upon the flock.  [cf. Jn 10:8]  The True Shepherd, who calls each of his flock by name, pronounces judgment on the enemy:  "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!"   [Mt 18:7]  The stranger's voice speaks with a harshness the flock cannot understand; to the Church he utters words of division. The stranger appoints himself as overseer and infiltrates the flock by deception. The stranger beguiles many of the sheep by claiming that the flock has nothing to fear from the world, but the flock itself will never accept his message, nor will it follow him. It is the shepherd who leads the flock, not the enemy; it is the Lord who "has gone as a forerunner on our behalf having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek".  [Heb 6:20] 

FIDELITY TO FATHER'S WILL

4.  Second, we live with a sense of heightened anticipation, even urgency. The ancient enemy--the stranger--remains in the world for a time. But true discipleship resolves inquietude, however, and Christians are delivered from capricious superstition:  "For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."  [1Pet 2:25]  We pray in the Mass that God protect us from all anxiety^[6] and grant us the peace only he can give. The high-wire, therefore, an apt metaphor. If we see life as walking in the Spirit, if we see our destination as the Heavenly city, if we understand that below our feet is an abyss of sin and separation from God, then we will allow nothing to deter us from carrying our cross to the new Jerusalem in the most direct way possible! We will not be deterred from discerning God's will and acting on it! We will not be deprived of reconciliation with one another! We will not succumb to selfishness, hatred or corrosive self-doubt! We will not surrender to the Prince of Lies and all his evil works! Thanks be to God that the human person's worth is not determined by success, but by fidelity to the Father's will. Thanks be to God that one thing done right can make a difference, one act of goodness, one mass, one confession, one hour of prayer can cancel a multitude of sins. Thanks be to God for salvation in Christ Jesus who "came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near".   [Eph 2:17]  Third, Our Lord calls us to scale greater and greater spiritual heights with the sure and certain knowledge that, should we fall, we have only to cry out in sorrow and sincere repentance, and Our Lord will capture us in his loving hand. The grace of Christ will carry us forward. His gospel is our balancing pole. His sure and steadfast Word anchors our souls. We must not fear trying. We must not be reluctant to follow Peters leap of faith or dread the possibility of our own misstep. If you cling to what is past and dead, to what is familiar and deadly, to your own powers or the goods of this world, Christ will not budge you from your fixed position. Nor will our Lord carry you to the Heavenly City if you are going in the opposite direction. Those who choose the path of Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven cannot be like the ox returning to the yoke, the horse seeking his familiar path, the prisoner retreating to his prison. Many persons are watching us, observing our conduct, and depending on us. Our strong and unwavering witness is needed in the sight of many for the salvation of souls. What can one say about an old, lonely, arthritic man whose heart burned with fire and who grew "weary with holding it in"? [Jer 20:9]  On his 82^nd birthday, Mr. Baldwin defied predictability and convention by coming out of retirement  and, trading his walking stick for a balancing pole, set out foolishly, gloriously, to cross a canyon in the air. After taking what seemed to be an infinitely large number of small steps on the steel cable, Professor Ivy Baldwin reached the mid-point. There he paused as he had done 41 years earlier, and slightly wobbling, gingerly knelt down until one knee touched the wire. Then, tottering up, he lurched forward. What the crowd below could not see was his marked pallor, his clothes drenched with sweat, and his lungs heaving. What they could see, however, was his victory, his first step onto the other side. Far, far below they applauded and sang Happy Birthday.