Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
(Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19)
The retired fisherman explained to
his guest what his life was like. He
said that he set out to sea in the middle of the night. There he placed his nets and waited for them
to fill up. Then he hauled in his catch
and brought the fish to market. He was one
with nature, close to God, feeling free and challenged to transcend human
limitations. In the gospel today Jesus tells
Peter to give up this vigorous life for the more troubling task of serving his
people.
Jesus calls Peter “’Simon, son of John’” to indicate the seriousness
of his request. Then he poses the
question, “’…do you love me more than these?’” “These” likely refers to the boat
and gear that Peter uses in fishing. When
Peter assures Jesus that he does, Jesus issues his order to feed his
flock. But he is demanding of Peter more
than that he abandon a fulfilling livelihood.
Because he will be taking Jesus’ place, Jesus is preparing Peter to give
up his life.
“Mary, do you love me more than your job teaching?” “Joseph, do you love me more than work
programming computers?” We should hear
Jesus asking of each of us a similar question.
No, he is likely not going to tell us to give up our occupations. But he does want us to prioritize. We are to love him first – more than husband
or wife, job or career, food or sport.
When we do so, we will find that we will be able to love everyone and
everything, even ourselves, all the better.
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