Friday
in the Octave of Easter
(Acts 4:1-12; John 21:1-14)
“The one who loves much, does much.” The actions of Peter on behalf of Jesus in
today’s Scriptures witness to this simple test of love. Love moves the chief apostle in the reading
from Acts to confront the Jewish leaders who recently negotiated Jesus’ execution. In the gospel, love inspires him to rush into
the water with clothes on to greet the risen Lord.
As courageous and spontaneous as Peter’s
love for Jesus is, it only shadows Jesus’ love for him and for the rest of
us. St. Paul surely captures the heart of the
gospel when he writes: “...God proves his love for us in
that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). His death has gained for us the forgiveness
of sin. But that is only half of the wonder
of God’s love. His resurrection – the other
half – bestows on us life in abundance.
Peter’s actions suggest how we might
show our love for Christ. We too can
confront sin by naming it and repenting of it.
There may be people in our lives for whom we harbor resentment. We must acknowledge our deliberate dislike as
sin, pray for healing grace, and make serious effort to approach those people
in charity. Likewise, we should lose no
time in meeting the Lord in the Eucharist.
Coming early to pray quietly and to preview the Scripture readings will deepen
our encounter with the risen Lord.
