Numbers 6:22-27 / James 4:13-15 / Matthew 6:31-34
As we know, St. Peter was a fisherman. So the symbols that would be associated with him would probably be fishes, or a fishing net, or a fishing boat.
But as we know, St. Peter is often depicted holding two big keys in his hand, the keys of the Kingdom that Jesus gave him.
Another symbol that is often forgotten and occasionally associated with him is the rooster.
In some paintings and images, there is a rooster present nearby, and if we know the scriptures, then we will know why.
When Peter denied knowing Jesus for the third time, there was a cock-crow. And then Jesus turned to look at him.
At that moment, Peter knew clearly what he had done, and he went away and wept bitterly.
It was his darkest moment, a moment he will never forget.
It was a moment of reckoning, but it was also a moment of awakening where his life will change.
So the lowly rooster, which usually ends up as fried chicken or curry chicken, was the instrument of revelation for St. Peter.
Or specifically, the call of the rooster was for St. Peter the awakening call from Jesus.
Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year. In the Chinese zodiac, it is the Year of the Rooster.
Among other things, the rooster is known for its morning wakeup call, although in our urbanized Singapore, we hardly hear that call.
Somehow it is in the instinct of the rooster to sense the break of dawn and gives the call that a new day is approaching.
Yes, a new day is beginning, a new life is awakening, a new experience of God’s love and blessings is beginning.
So it was for St. Peter, so it is for us as we gather to offer God worship and praise and thanksgiving for the New Year, and to pray for God’s blessings for the days to come.
And in the days to come, let us pray that we will listen to the call of God and to know what He wants of us.
There’s a story of a chicken farmer who found an eagle’s egg. He put it with his chickens and soon the egg hatched.
The baby eagle grew up with all the other chickens and learned to imitate the chickens. He would scratch the ground for worms. He grew up thinking he was a chicken.
Since the chickens could only fly for a short distance, the eagle also learnt to fly a short distance.
He thought that was what he was supposed to do. So that was all that he thought he could do. As a consequence, that was all he was able to do.
One day the eagle saw a bird flying high above him. He was very impressed. “Who is that?” he asked the chickens around him.
“That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” the chickens told him. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth, we are just chickens.”
So the eagle lived and died as a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was. Or maybe ended up as fried chicken or curry chicken.
So as the Lunar New Year begins with the Year of the Rooster, let us also hear the awakening call.
We are not called to be of this world, to be like mere chickens that scratch the ground for worms.
But we are called to lift up our minds and hearts and lives to God so that we can stretch our wings of blessings and soar high with God’s love.
Yes, that is what God is calling us to and that is what He wants of us.
St. Peter heard it and he became who God wanted him to be.
May we too hear God’s call and become who God wants us to be.
May the New Year bring about God’s blessings so that we will stretch out our wings and proclaim God’s wonderful love for us.