John 21:15-19

Acts 25:13b-21

Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab

John 21:15-19

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,

he said to Simon Peter,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He then said to Simon Peter a second time,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,

“Do you love me?” and he said to him,

“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I renew my love for you and my desire to follow your Son. I promise to feed and tend the lambs and sheep in my care. May I glorify you in all that I say and do today.

Encountering the Word of God

1. True Prayer Begins with God: The First Reading and the Gospel are connected by references to the sufferings and martyrdom that both Paul and Peter will endure for the Gospel and for their Savior, Jesus Christ. In the Gospel, the risen Jesus walks with Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is a vivid image of what happens to us in prayer. We walk alongside Jesus and listen to his word. In prayer we hear the same question that Peter heard: “Do you love me?” and we are asked to respond with humility, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” In true prayer, God always speaks first. Even when we think we first cry out to him and then he hears our voice, we need to realize that he was already there calling out our name, seeking us out as a good shepherd seeks his lost sheep. The Gospel teaches us that Jesus, the Lamb of God, has introduced us, through our Baptism into his death and resurrection, into the sheepfold. We, who have come to believe in him, are now called “lambs.” As lambs, we will share in the sufferings of the Lamb.

2. Jesus Predicts Peter’s Passion: Jesus, the Good Shepherd, now gives to others the power to be shepherds of his flock. Jesus turns to Peter, who had denied him three times, and asks Peter for a triple affirmation of love. “The confession of love must precede the bestowing of authority; authority without love is tyranny” (Sheen, Life of Christ, Image Books, 427). Love is the condition of service. And Peter, “the man who had fallen most deeply and learned most thoroughly his own weakness was certainly the best qualified for strengthening the weak and feeding the lambs” (Sheen, Life of Christ, 427). Jesus gave the keys to Peter the Rock and made him, before his ascension into heaven, the visible shepherd over the visible flock of the Church. “Impulsive and self-willed though he was in the days of his youth, yet in his old age Peter would glorify the Master by a death on the Cross. From Pentecost on, Peter was led where he would not go. He was obliged to leave the Holy City, where imprisonment and the sword awaited him. Next he was led by His Divine Master to Samaria and into the house of the Gentile, Cornelius” (Sheen, Life of Christ, 429). Peter was then led to Rome, where he would be bound and nailed on a cross. Sheen comments: “Thus the man who was always tempting the Lord away from the Cross was the first of the Apostles to go to it. The Cross that he embraced redounded to the glory of his Savior more than all the zeal and impetuosity of his youth. When Peter did not understand that the Cross implied Redemption from sin, he put his own death before that of the Master, saying that though all others would fail to defend Him, he would not. Now Peter saw that it was only in the light of the Cross of Calvary that the Cross he would embrace had meaning and significance” (Sheen, Life of Christ, 429).

3. Paul’s Imprisonment in Caesarea: The Acts of the Apostles concludes with the story of Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea and his journey to Rome, where he, like Peter, will be martyred. To protect him from assassins, Paul was led from Jerusalem by a force of four hundred and seventy soldiers and horsemen to Felix, the governor at Caesarea. Claudius Lysias explained in a letter that the controversy between Paul and the Jews concerned questions of their law and did not involve any charge deserving of death or imprisonment. Felix heard the case of Paul presented by Ananias, the high priest, and Tertullus. Their accusation was that Paul tried to desecrate the Temple – possibly because they thought Paul introduced Gentiles into the court of Israel. Instead of deciding Paul’s case, Felix hoped for a bribe from Paul’s friends and left Paul in jail for two years (A.D. 58-59). When Felix was replaced in A.D. 59, the new governor Festus brought Paul in and asked whether or not he would stand trial in Jerusalem. Paul knew that he would not receive a fair trial in Jerusalem and appealed his case to Caesar. Paul understood this as the will of God, knowing that he was called to preach the Gospel in Rome. All of these things happened before the arrival of King Herod Agrippa and Bernice to Caesarea. Today’s First Reading, then, is a summary discussion of Paul’s case and a record of what happened to Paul.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, when I hear your question, “Do you love me?” I am cut to the heart. I want to respond with Peter, “Yes, Lord, I love you,” but I also know all the times I have failed to love you. Transform my sorrow into joy and bring me to love you more deeply with each passing day.

Living the Word of God: We can learn from Peter and Paul the need to allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises us, as his lambs, that we will suffer with him and for him. Our suffering, united to the passion of Christ, has a redemptive value. Each time we pray and open our hearts to God, we are telling him that we love him and that we will follow his Son on the humble path to the Cross and to the glory of the Resurrection.