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Matthew 26:74. "Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the man.' And immediately the cock crowed."

 

This is the third time Peter denied Jesus, just as Jesus predicted he would. The cock crowing at this exact moment reminds Peter of Jesus' words - "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." (Matthew 26:34). it struck me that Matthew says Peter "began to invoke a curse on himself" with this third denial. I have been reading a lot lately about the ways of the devil and demons (trying to figure out just what exactly is going on!!)*, and have learned that curses are a very real thing. Often we have no idea that a curse is what is wrong, first because a curse is not something we typically think of right away, and second because the curse may have been placed on us by another person, so we don't even know to try and break it. Curses are often intentional, the work of someone tied to the occult in some way, but they are not always so. They can be brought upon oneself, others, or one's family by sin, especially serious sin, or sin coupled with an interest in the occult, even an "innocent" interest.

 

The important thing to know is that there is a reality to all of this: demons, angels, and the spiritual world all exist and have "rules" that they operate under, like the rules of physics that apply in the material world. Whether we fully realize what we are  doing or not, we can call curses onto ourselves and others by our words and actions. Peter obviously did not intend to invoke a curse upon himself, and, apparently, his first two denials of Christ did not serve to do so. But Matthew points out that with the third denial, Peter began to invoke a curse upon himself. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times, so it makes sense that it was with the third one that it became obvious that Peter was denying not only Christ, but everything Peter professed to be and thought that he was. The cock crow just reinforced this - it woke Peter up to the reality of what he had just done, and "he went out and wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:75). He knew then that he had cursed himself.

 

One thing about curses is that there is no way to break them by ourselves, we have to invoke the power of Christ's sacrifice, especially His Blood shed for all of us. Peter didn't know this, and Christ's blood had not yet been shed, so there was no way to break this curse on Peter unless and until Christ died. So Christ's death became essential in a very personal way to Peter just then, even though Peter had no idea that this was so. Jesus knew this ahead of time, and loved Peter so much, so it was personal for Him, too. (Note that Judas had also cursed himself, but unlike Peter, Judas gave into despair and committed suicide before giving Christ a chance to forgive and redeem him). I can't imagine Christ's pain at being abandoned and betrayed by His apostles, including His chosen successor on earth. We all betray Jesus this way when we deny Him through sin, and He loves each of us as much as he loved Peter. So this is personal for us, as well.

 

By the way, these spiritual rules work the same way with blessings. When we are acting and speaking in God's will, we can bring blessings upon ourselves and others without even intending to. The bread and wine at Mass still become Jesus' Body and Blood, even if it is a sinful priest who performs the consecration. Louisa Piccarreta wrote about how painful it is for Jesus to enter into these priests during the consecration, but He does it because he is called by the priestly authority to do so. (Book of Heaven, Volume 1, page 26). What we say and do matter. Our words and actions affect reality, and reality includes spiritual reality. So we can call down blessings and curses whether we are always aware of what we are doing or not, which is one reason we should always be speaking and acting with virtue, especially charity, and in accordance with God's laws.

 

"Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, release us from curses." 

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*One good book in this regard is Slaying Dragons by Daniel Kolenda.