(Audio)
The LORD is always asking us if we love him. It is not that he is unsure.
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
It is rather that he is trying to stir our hearts toward still greater love. Peter is permitted to tell Jesus of his love once for each time he betrayed him. Jesus is not content to leave Peter immobile and stuck in the past. Rather, he asks him to love him in deed and truth and not merely in word or sentiment.
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go."
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."
Jesus is calling us to love him. We are all called, in different ways, to feed the sheep of his flock. The flock needs solid truth on which to feed. We see that Paul has a deep clarity on just what will nourish them.
Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion
and about a certain Jesus who had died
but who Paul claimed was alive.
With what can the flock be fed besides the bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world? What better way is there to love Jesus than to be the means by which more and more people have access to this bread and realize its importance?
Jesus asks us if we love him. Do we love him enough to help Peter feed the flock with the truth that finds source and summit in the Eucharistic feast?
Let us begin around his table ourselves, nourished by word and Sacrament. Let us listen for the voice calling us each to our own unique ways to love and feed the flock. In doing so we love Jesus himself.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
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