“The angel then said, ‘Put on your belt and sandals.’ After he had done this, the angel next said, ‘Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.’” (Acts 12:8)
In the first reading for the solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, the angel frees Peter in prison and tells him to clothe himself and flee.
This clothing reminds us of Peter’s joyous self-clothing when he leapt from his boat to swim to the Risen Jesus (John 21). Often we begin our relationship with Jesus with unbounded enthusiasm; but we must grow and learn to obey in times of darkness too.
But there is a third clothing that is even more important. Jesus predicted Peter’s death by saying ‘when you were young, you fastened your own belt and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will fasten your belt for you and carry you where you do not wish to go’ (John 21:18).
This time Peter will not escape death, but embrace it; he will not clothe himself but another will. We are called to the same progression, symbolised by Peter’s three clothings: from enthusiasm to obedience and then to vulnerable self-sacrifice.
Each one of us is called to grow until we can abandon ourselves to being clothed by another maliciously.
Jesus himself gives us this example in his Passion: ‘Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then, clothing him in gorgeous apparel, he sent him back to Pilate.’ (Luke 23:11)
For most of us, unlike Jesus and Peter, this cruel clothing will be metaphorical rather than literal: we will endure calumny, gossip and lies yet this ‘clothing’ can be turned to good if we offer it up with Jesus.
In order to have the strength to surrender to this ‘clothing’ of suffering we need to first and always clothe ourselves with Christ: Paul commanded ‘Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:14)’ and Peter later said ‘Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another’ (1 Peter 5:5).
And priests, who clothe themselves with sacred vestments for Holy Mass, can reflect that they are imitating Peter, getting ready to share the death of Jesus as Peter did.
