As we are coming to the end of the Easter season, as we approach Pentecost Sunday, we hear the post-resurrection Jesus ask Peter 3 times if he loves him, to which Peter answers affirmatively. Jesus' response to Peter is to: feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Peter's 3 affirmative responses of loving Jesus reminds us of the 3 times when Peter denied Jesus during Jesus' suffering on the way to the cross.
Two different Greeks words are used for love in this Gospel story. Agape is a love that seeks the highest good of others, not coming only out of emotions, but rather out of the person's mind, intellect, & entire being. Agape is a caring love that is intimately involved in the needs of the other person, a love that does not depend upon being reciprocated or being earned. Peter responds to Jesus with philia, a brotherly love that is born out of a close friendship. Thus, Peter is replying to Jesus that his loves him through the bond of brotherhood and of the special friendship they share. Jesus calls us to a bond of love beyond the special closeness of friendship. As Jesus asks Peter to grow in his love, perhaps we should also grow in this love: in the way we love God & love others. Do we need to grow in the love and gratitude of Jesus before we can follow his request for us to tend & feed his sheep?
Unfortunately, it is easy to have a relationship with Jesus when he takes us to the easy, comfortable places that bring us joy and that are the places we want to go. However, we are followers of Jesus in the true sense when we let him take us to places that we don't particularly want to go, perhaps to places where we confront our fears and are pushed beyond our comfort zone. We are called to surrender to Jesus' love & to the will of God, to ask for the grace to live as true disciples, to be willing to say “yes” to God in the many unexpected ways in which he asks us to serve him and to serve his people.
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