Peter and John

I AM referring to the two apostles, St. Peter and St. John. The former

was much older than the latter who, tradition says, was practically a

lad only at the time of Christ. They both can represent the tension

that usually arises between two different generations, a phenomenon

that we continue to observe especially nowadays when the differences

between the old and the young are sharper and plentier.

In that gospel episode, for example, where Mary Magdalene reported to

them that the tomb of Christ was found empty, the reaction of both of

them, while the same in substance, was different in manner. (cfr. Jn

20,1-18)

Both immediately ran to the tomb, but St. John, being the younger

fellow, ran faster and arrived at the tomb ahead of St. Peter. But to

the credit of St. John, he stopped at the opening of the tomb and

waited for St. Peter before both entered to inspect the empty tomb.

  

This part of the gospel somehow tells us that the young people can

know more things than the older people, but it is the older people

that know things better and more deeply than the young ones.

This reminds me of that part of the song, What a wonderful world,

where it says, “I hear babies cry / I watch them grow / they’ll learn

much more / than I’ll ever know.” Said in another way, the young ones

are like the ice skiers who can cover a long distance of ice, while

the old ones are like the divers, who may confine themselves in a

small area, but they go deep into the water.

  

Of course, that’s not a strict description of how the old and the

young behave. But what is important is that like St. John and St.

Peter, there must be some way of respecting each other and

interrelating with each other despite the differences. In fact, the

differences, and even the conflicts, should serve as the trigger for

such respect and interrelation between the generations, instead of

causing division.

Both the old and the young should be allowed to be the way they are,

with their distinctive characteristics and qualities. The older

generation should respect the younger ones as they are, and the same

should be true with the younger generation vis-à-vis, the older

generation.

It also has to be said that it is usually the older generation that

has greater capacity to understand the younger ones, than the other

way around. That’s simply because the older people have more

experience, have more exposure to life’s drama than the younger ones

who may possess more knowledge and skills, especially in the technical

side of life. Again this is a general statement that can admit a lot

of exceptions.

But the different generations should try to learn from each other,

mutually giving their distinctive contribution to each other. The

older generation should share their experience with the younger ones,

while the younger ones should also share the new, innovative things to

which they are more exposed.

While each generation should maintain their distinctive

characteristics and identity, without feeling superior or inferior to

the others, it should avoid keeping to itself. It should rather learn

to reach out also to the others. Otherwise, we would be creating

tribes that would fragment society in general and undermine the unity

and harmony proper to all of us.

With the fast pace of development nowadays, it is imperative that all

of us in the different stages, statuses and generations in life, learn

how to interact with each other, so that we can really achieve the

authentic progress that is meant for us.

This will require updating and leveling up our social skills that in

the end depends on our vital relationship with God, whose

inter-trinitarian life is the original and ultimate model of our

intergenerational interactions, or of how we as Peter and John ought

to behave toward each other.