Questions and answers

One of the earliest memories of tests endured as a child involved questions being asked by adults in our midst. With the eagerness of youth, I often ventured a response to such questions, but on more than one occasion my answer was either not accepted (either because it was incorrect or because it wasn't quite the response being sought). Call me an overachiever but this kind of response to my tendered answer caused me on more than one occasion later on in my formative years to think twice about offering an answer.

It seems that at times Jesus asks questions of us, and only after struggling with the situation presented do we recognize that He has already figured out the proper answer. Chidren who are rebuffed for presenting an incorrect response can be hurt, but adults who have sufficiently matured can hopefully understand that incomplete or incorrect answers are just as much part of the learning process as correct ones are.

Jesus himself put his disciples to the test on more than one occasion, including the interrogation at Cesarea Philippi . I wonder whether they too felt the pressure of being put to the test (by the master teacher). What kinds of answers swirled in the minds of the disciples? It's also interesting that it was Peter, the one who had been the most doubtful about many things that Jesus had tried to teach in the first place, who was the first to respond verbally.

Peter often spoke not so much from a logical point of view but from the heart, and this was indeed what made him so attractive to Jesus. It's also what makes him such a model for the rest of us. As we strive each day to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, do we sometimes let our proficiency for thinking (with our brains) outweigh our primal instincts to respond in faith?

Perhaps it is precisely the heart of the shepherd, moulded by the Master, pierced by human weakness and wounded through pride that allowed Peter to speak with such eloquence about the power of leadership in the Church: leadership born out of a first-hand knowledge of our own weakness and inadequacy for the task; leadership inspired by the knowledge that we are all on the same path toward our ultimate destinations.

Along the way, when the questions are asked, perhaps the answers have already been determined, but it is the discovery of these answers, and more importantly the effect they have on us that makes the journey worth the effort.