N., Do You Love Me More than Others?

Homily for June 1, 2017.


Today’s Gospel passage is just like an elephant, from whichever side you look at it, there are countless lessons to be learned. And in other for us to get the most of this particular passage, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of Peter.

Jesus asked Peter a personal question despite the fact that all the other disciples were present. He said: “Peter, do you love me more than these?” God is asking me today if I love him more than everyone on earth. God is not so interested in what other people are doing or whether they love him, God is interested in me.

We tend to shake when we hear of scandals. This person did this or that, we love to gossip about the evils others have done. Why? It makes us feel justified about our own sins. If so and so can do such and such, then who am I not to do so and so? Isn’t it?

But God is asking me today, “Do you love me more than all these other holy people?” as if to say, “Forget about others, it is you I am interested in.” Yes, what is most important is that I love God and put him first. I should not base my holiness on the holiness of others. God wants me to love him one on one.

Three times Jesus asked Peter this question. The number three we know is quite significant. It is symbolic of completion. God is asking me for my complete love. He is willing to repeat the question three times so as to sound it very well in my ears that He is very much (completely) interested in my love.

Again, I see forgiveness in this encounter. Peter denied Jesus three times. Not only that, Peter was on the verge of abandoning the Faith after the resurrection. He wanted to return back to his fishing business even after Jesus had told him he would henceforth fish for men.

God does not think the way I do. If people offend me, the way I think about them is far far different from the way God thinks of me when I offend him. Left alone, Peter deserved to be struck dead for denying Jesus but instead of Peter to be punished, Jesus came to him talking about love.

When I sin, it is easy to begin to condemn myself and even try to walk away from God. Because of my guilt, I find it difficult to pray, I even skip masses. I assume God is so angry with me that he is thinking about punishing me. But as we can see from this encounter, even after offending God, He still demands my love. He not only forgives, he goes all the way to restore me to life. I should never be afraid of coming to ask God for forgiveness.

Lastly, this passage tells me the mind of God for me. Each time Peter responded in the affirmative about loving God, Jesus quickly added: “Feed my Sheep.” The priesthood is all about service. It is not about my personal comfort but about the health of the sheep.

It will be a shame if I begin to select juicy parishes to work and even lobby my way to get to such places for the sake of the money that rich men and women will dash me. It will be a shame if I now value my car more than the spiritual wellbeing of my parishioners; a bigger shame of my sheep are starving from the word of God while I eat fat on their contributions.

To really feed the sheep of Jesus, one must be forgetful of self. In other words, willing to die. Jesus gave a parable to Peter saying when he was young, he tied his own belt but at old age, people will do it for him.

The meaning of this is that having made a commitment to feed the sheep, it is the sheep themselves who will tie my belt for me, that is, it is the sheep who will lead the way and make me do things that may not be in line with my personal comfort. And one day, I will die because I have spent my whole life on the overall wellbeing of the sheep.

Paul fed the sheep of Christ. He suffered for it. He was a constant visitor to Roman prisons. He even wrote letters to Churches from prison and ceased every occasion to preach and never stopped praying. In the midst of my difficulties feeding the sheep, I should read about Paul and encourage myself.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, may my love for you be real. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 7th week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 25:13-21 and John 21:15-19.).*


Fr. Abu. 

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