For those of you who were born in the late 50s or early 60s you may remember an American TV show called the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The show featured the comedy duo of Tom and Dick Smothers. They were a folk singing brother duo with Tommy playing the guitar and Dick playing the Bass Fiddle. But their music was very much secondary. They used their songs as a vehicle for their comedy. And a running joke with the pair was Tommy lamenting to Dick that “Mom always liked you best”. Here is a little taste of their act:
Don’t we all have someone in their lives that we either are or were jealous of? For me it was my older brother. He was five years older than me and he was cool. I remember wanting to walk to school with him and his friends. It took an act of God…no wait, that was my Mother..to force him to let me tag along. As we got older he clearly became my Father’s favorite. They would do woodworking stuff together. Fishing. Hunting. He eventually even took over my Father’s roofing business. My Mother denied he was the favorite for years but my younger brother, Paul, and I knew better. It was just the way it was.
So, I remembered growing up thinking that I was not going to compete with him. My talent was for school work. Not so much with building and repairing stuff. I recall them remodeling a bathroom once and the toilet was out in the middle of the room…and obviously not hooked up…to ANYTHING. Didn’t really register to me that I probably should not use it in that condition. I did though. My Father was flabbergasted. How could anyone do that? My strength was elsewhere and I took my penchant for studies to Illinois and veterinary school. It was my path. Not the path of my brother.
I think sometimes we have talents that we come by naturally and effortlessly and we think, “Well, if it is that easy, it can’t be that important”. We then try to prove that we can do something we do not have much talent for because we see others accomplishing much using those same skills. A bit of jealousy enters our hearts and try to force our lives into a direction that God never intended for us to go.
Such was the case with Peter in today’s Gospel. Jesus had just revealed to Peter, in the section just before today’s reading, that he would die a martyr’s death. This also followed the part where Jesus questioned Peter three times regarding whether he loved Him or not and told Peter to feed my lambs. Making Peter the head of the church, the first Pope. But Peter’s response was to look to John (assumed to be the “One that Jesus Loved) and ask Jesus, “What about him?” Jesus’ response?
“What if I want him to remain if I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”
Whoa. Jesus did not hold back anything here. Basically, mind your own business and do the work you were called to do. It also reminds me of the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). In it, the master hires laborers at varying times during the day to work in his vineyard. When payment time comes at the end of the day, each worker receives the same amount, the amount promised them, regardless of when they started. The ones hired early in the day were upset and complained to the master. The master’s response? “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”
We are many parts. We are all one body. And the gifts we have, we are given to share. The gifts WE have. Not the gifts given to others. While John was the only apostle to not suffer a martyr’s death, Peter went on to lead the apostles and the church. What Jesus called of Peter and John, and what he asks of each of us, is to Follow Me. And to use our gifts to spread His message. Maybe Mrs. Smothers did like Dick best, but my guess is that she loved them both in their own ways. Just as my parents loved each of the three of us for different reasons. Just as Jesus, in spite of John being the disciple Jesus loved, loved all the apostles for who each of them were. And how He loves us for who we are. Accept His love, accept ourselves and listen to Him when he says, “Follow Me”.
