Of Foxes and Men

We recently celebrated the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For us as Catholics, this is the pivotal moment in our faith. One of the poignant moments of Christ's passion is when Peter betrays him. In Luke’s account of Peter’s betrayal, Peter is around the fire with those who arrested Jesus. Peter is asked on three separate occasions whether he is an acquaintance of Jesus, and he denies any association with him all three times. Peter is right there; he’s around the same fire as Jesus, probably only a few feet from his best friend. He’s so close to his teacher and master. Yet he still turns his back on Jesus in his most dire moment.

A strikingly similar story appears in the recent movie Zootopia by Disney. In the film, an over-eager bunny, Hops, aspires to be a police officer and protect Zootopia from evil. Along the way she meets a swindling fox, Nick, who winds up helping her with a high-risk case. Hops has two days to find a missing otter, and if she doesn’t she’ll be stripped of her badge. After multiple clues lead them to the rain forest district, Nick and Hops find themselves attacked by a jaguar. Nick and Hops manage to escape the jaguar’s clutches, but upon returning to the scene of the crime find the jaguar gone. Back up officers arrive on the scene to find no evidence of the jaguar attack. Hops tries to explain that her and Nick were in fact attacked by a savage jaguar, but Chief Bogo (a burly wildebeest) says her time is up and she must surrender her badge. In Hops’ dire moment, Nick stands up for his friend. He tells Chief Bogo that they have 10 hours left to solve the case, which is plenty of time. He reprimands the police chief for giving Hops only two days to solve a case that has taken them several weeks. Nick and Hops leave a stunned Chief Bogo and eventually solve the case.

Nick had a similar choice to Peter: stand for his friend or abandon his friend. Before meeting Hops, Nick lived only for himself. He tricked animals out of their money, avoided paying taxes, and rarely did anything for others. Hops gave him hope, and Nick saw something more in himself because of Hops. He recognized Hops’ willingness to trust him. Nick took a risk and defended his furry friend in her moment of need. When Jesus needed him, Peter shrunk under the pressure. His thoughts went to himself first rather than his teacher, master, and best friend. Jesus had given him so much; a future to believe in, purpose in his life, and the promise of fishing for men. Peter forgot about this and panicked. The pain of his betrayal haunted Peter, but he never let it weigh him down. Jesus gave him an opportunity to redeem himself and repair their friendship.

These two tales present similar scenarios with very different outcomes. Nick and Peter become invested in relationships with Hops and Jesus, respectively. Two people they never thought they'd partner with are suddenly their best friends! These two unlikely friend pairs shape the course of history and offer us an example of what true, Christian friendship looks like.