“One Heart, One Mind, One Faith” is focused on two of the most important parts of our faith: forgiveness and authority. In this scene, Jesus tells Peter that he forgives him, but Peter can’t seem to forgive himself. (I find that I’m a lot like Peter. Jesus forgives me, but I can’t seem to forgive myself at times.)
Jesus starts the song by singing, “Three times denied. Three times forgiven. You must know by now, my mercy and forgiveness is endless!”
Jesus is stressing the fact that no matter how many time we fail the Lord, He stands before us with holes in his hands and arms open wide dying to us, “I love you! I forgive you! My mercy and forgiveness is endless.”
Just look at the Apostles. They all made mistakes. Peter denied Jesus not once, but three times. Judas betrayed Jesus. The rest of them slept as Jesus suffered, and they never seemed to understand what Jesus was actually saying to them. Ha! Don’t you see. Jesus didn’t pick perfect people to be His Apostles; He picked people just like us, but these people made themselves available to Him!
There’s a wonderful saying in the church. “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called!”
We all make mistakes, but we cannot let our mistakes define us. Jesus died for us to save us from our sin. He didnt have to die on the cross, but He did it out of love for us! Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness! Break the bonds of slavery to sin and thank Jesus for dying on the cross so that we may live!
“One Heart” is also a song about authority. Jesus gives Peter the “Keys of the Kingdom.” If you were a Jewish person 2000 years ago, you would have certainly understood what it meant when someone said “I give you the Keys of the Kingdom.” You see in the Old Testament, when a Jewish King left for war or on a journey, he knew that he would be gone a very long time, possibly years. So before the King left, he gave the “Keys of the Kingdom” to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minster would have the authority to rule the kingdom until the king returned. If the Prime Minister died before the King returned, then the keys would be passed on to the next elected Prime Minister until the King eventually returned. In this song, Jesus passes His authority onto Peter by asking the question, “Will you stand in my place leading them all to one heart, mind, one faith?”
First, Peter must reconcile with Jesus. Then and only then can he accept and fully embrace His mission. We too must reconcile with Jesus in order to fully embrace our diving calling.
This is the way we are called to live our lives! Praise be to God!
SONG CHALLENGE: Have you made peace with God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Have you fully embraced your mission with God?
We’d love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Kelly