Do You Love Me?
7th Week of Easter – Friday (II)
2008-05-09
John 21:15-19“Simon, Son of John, Do you love me?”
We have all sinned. We have all “messed up.” We have all “fallen short of the glory of God” as St. Paul puts it in his letter to the Romans. And so did Simon, Son of John…Peter.
In fact, it was only a few months ago that we re-read the Passion of the Christ in preparation for the celebration of the Easter Mysteries. And, as we heard the account of Jesus’ arrest, and the events that would lead to His eventual crucifixion, we witnessed from Peter, our first pope, what could have arguably been one of the worst sins of all time – a very public, complete and utter denial of Jesus Christ…
“I tell you I do not know the man!” he cursed.
Not only once does he say this, but three times. It was time of chaos and crisis. It was a sad story and true scandal for the very early, fledgling Church. It was indeed sinful.
Fast-forward to today’s Gospel reading. It’s a much different setting. The crisis and chaos have subsided a bit, and the Resurrected Jesus and Peter are sitting peacefully after breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. And Jesus, as He was known to do, does a very remarkable – and telling – thing. He asks Peter if he loves Him. More to the point, he gives Peter the opportunity to sit with Him face-to-face and tell Jesus that he loves Him. Not only once does He do this, but three times.
Do you see the connection?
For every sin that Peter committed – no matter how bad the sin – for every moment of self-doubt, hatred, bitterness and anger – Jesus gives Peter an opportunity to repair the damage done by saying, “I love you” to Jesus…each sin…3 for 3.
And what can we take from this?
Like Peter, we too have sinned. And like Peter, Jesus wants to extend to us the opportunity to make amends, to reconcile, to sit with Him face-to-face and say, “I love you” to Jesus.
And how is this best accomplished today? – through the grace-filled Sacrament of Confession. That’s right, Confession.
For each and every sin we commit – no matter how bad – the Church, through the authority given her by God, extends to us the unlimited and unfathomable love and mercy of Jesus. And, she does this through the ministry of her priests, acting in persona Christi – in the very person of Christ – as they offer absolution.
But, for so many of us, the Sacrament of Reconciliation has become a burden, daunting, scary, a punishment…much, much worse than a trip to the dentist. When, in truth, it’s an opportunity to love, to share personally in the grace-filled mercy of Christ Himself.
Common sense tells us that the more frequently we say, “I love you” to our spouses, the healthier, more permanent, more indissoluble our married relationship becomes. And, guess what? Common sense should tell us, the more frequently we go to confession, the more frequently we say, “I love you” to God, the stronger our relationship to our heavenly spouse becomes.
So let us be prepared when Jesus asks us, “Brothers and Sisters, do you love Me?”