Scripture:
Reflection:
“Do you love me?” It is the most penetrating, personal question anyone can ask us, and in today’s gospel, it is the question Jesus asks Peter not once, but three times. “Do you love me?” When someone asks us that, what is it that they really want to know? Minimally, they want to know if we care about them and if they matter to us. But there are different levels of love, different degrees of love, and that Jesus persists in raising the question indicates that he wants to know how deep Peter’s love for him goes. Yes, he is asking Peter, “Can I trust you? Can I depend on you?” But he is also asking, like lifetime lovers do, “What place do I have in your life? Can you imagine your life without me?”
Each time Jesus poses the question, Peter wholeheartedly declares: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” But it is fascinating that Jesus, rather than resting in Peter’s affirmation of love, responds by giving Peter work to do, telling him first, “Feed my lambs,” then “Tend my sheep,” and finally, “Feed my sheep.” Love binds us to another; love draws us into their lives so that what matters to them now must matter to us. So it is that to love Jesus is to share in his mission of bringing God’s love, justice, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to life in the world.
Today’s gospel should be given to anyone considering becoming a Christian—and to all of us who assume we already are—because it sets out very clearly the non-negotiables of the Christian life. If we fancy ourselves true Christians, then, like Peter, Christ must be the absolute center of our lives, the one we love more than anyone or anything else. And, if we fancy ourselves true Christians, we must, like Peter, demonstrate our love for Christ each day by continuing the work that he began. This is what Jesus had in mind when he said to Peter (and he says to us), “Follow me.”
Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family.