In the Gospel reading for Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we see Peter struggle with giving over control to Jesus.

When Jesus attempts to wash the feet of Peter, how does Peter react? By attempting to take control of the situation. He attempts to prevent Jesus from doing what Jesus wants to do and he attempts to have Jesus do what he wants Jesus to do. “Peter said to Jesus, ‘You will never wash my feet.’” … “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Master, then [wash] not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.’”

It is understandable how Peter came to say this. He saw Jesus acting as a servant, and it did not fit with Peter’s concept of Jesus. This could very well occur in our own lives. We could find in our prayer and spiritual development that things are not the way we think they should be. We could attempt to take charge, to direct the way things should be in our prayer life. We could even attempt to take entire control of our spiritual development and direct it the way we think it should be directed, knocking out the Holy Spirit, who would otherwise direct our spiritual development.

We share that same human tendency with Saint Peter to be in charge. In many areas of our lives, we do have to be in charge, but in our Christ life, we do want to progress to the point where we have the faith and trust to allow Jesus to be in charge.