Saturday of the 7th Week of Easter

Saturday of the 7^th Week of Easter

John 21:20-25

The Beloved Disciple

William Penn said: “If we are but sure the end is right, we are too apt to gallop over all bounds to compass it; not considering the lawful ends may be very unlawfully attained.”

Today’s gospel reading is the conclusion of St. John’s gospel on the life of Jesus. St. John says: ‘There are also many other things that Jesus did; but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written,” (v. 25). In other words, St. John, like the other evangelists, has chosen only those signs about Jesus that were suited to his purpose in writing. His purpose in writing his gospel is to show that Jesus is God; that God is love; and that to His followers Jesus offers His divine life. We may also say that in spite of scientific discoveries and inventions, we will continue to encounter the mysteries in our world especially in our lives and faith. It is because this world bears forever the imprint of God the Creator.

Somebody had said that these words are testimonies in favor of the Church’s reliance on Sacred Tradition.  The principle of ‘sola scriptura,’ which maintains that the bible is the only source of our Christian belief, is paradoxically not upheld by the Sacred Scripture itself.  We must look to the patrimony of the Church especially her history, the witness of the first few centuries, her liturgy and pious practices in order to tap all the richness of our belief.  For this we must rely on a living reality which enjoys the continuous support of Christ, through the action of the Holy Spirit. This is the living tradition of the Catholic Church, entrusted by Christ to her legitimate pastors, the successors of the Twelve Apostles.

But why do we compare ourselves with others?  Why we want to be better off than our neighbor? No wonder why we have so many rivals and enemies. Peter and John are both called as disciples of Jesus and each is given a different task to fulfil. But what is intriguing is when Peter questions John’s role. He asks Jesus: “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him: “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me,” (vv. 21-22).

A priest said in his homily that worrying about ourselves in comparison with others, even in questions of holiness and apostolic ability, is a mistake. The Lord prefers that we mind our own business, the business of growing in our friendship with Him and in our dedication to the apostolate. Harnessing the inspiring examples others give us should push us forward to greater holiness and self-giving. At the same time, we have to learn how to rejoice in others’ triumphs, seeing God alive in them, working in them, loving them. Jealousy and competition insinuate themselves into our view of others’ work, but if we build our faith-vision, seeing God in them, we rejoice.

Like St. Peter, Jesus tells us to follow Him instead of comparing ourselves with others in terms of holiness and apostolate. And at the end let us remember that at the close of our lives the question will not be (Nathan C. Schaeffer):

“How much have you gotten?” but “How much have you given?”

Not “How much have you won?” but “How much have you done?”

Not “How much have you saved?” but “How much have you sacrificed?”

It will be “How much have you loved and served,” not “How much were you honored?”

 

Friday of the 7th Week of Easter

Friday of the 7^th Week of Easter

John 21:15-19

Jesus and Peter

Richard A. Vurva of Merrillville, Indiana, USA told a story that every year the youngest children in the Trinity Lutheran preschool in Crown Point, Indiana, steal the show at their end-of-the-year program. This year they did the usual waves to parents, mugging and tugging at their clothes. The highlight came when 11 children, none of whom could yet read, proudly held up brightly colored 3-foot-high letters that spelled: DOG LOVES YOU. Actually it was supposed to be read as: GOD LOVES YOU. But if we spell the word ‘Dog’ backward, what we get is God.

We are taught that God is Love (1John 4:16). His love is unconditional, without limit, and everlasting. It’s the beginning and the end; and it’s the essence of Christianity.  It draws us to the heart of God and it compels us to give to him our full allegiance and our very lives. What can quench such love?  Certainly, they are indifference, disbelief, or rejection of God and his word.

Jesus in today’s gospel asks St. Peter: Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Jesus sees to it that Peter may answer in the affirmative. These triple questions may be a reference to Peter’s triple denial before the passion, as if Christ were giving Peter a chance to make up for his earlier offence.  In other words, Jesus is not discouraged of Peter’s betrayal from building His Church on him. This does not mean that Jesus ignores his betrayal. In fact, He is very careful to give Peter a chance to nullify his betrayal with three questions of love and making him more humble. In this sense, God uses even our past sins and mistakes for our own good if we sincerely repent them. The Lord calls us, even in our weakness and sin, to love Him above all else. Adrian van Kaam, a Psychologist, in his book The Dynamics of Spiritual Self-Direction, explains how this all works out. He writes: “God can help us to make the best of the past so that nothing is wasted in our lives. During the years that we were perhaps not yet totally in line with our true self-direction, we have been gathering experience, information and understanding, both of ourselves and of the secular society around us. God used that growing awareness to lead to this point of dissatisfaction and of discernment of new and better possibilities of life. We should show our gratefulness and trust in Him by not lamenting what has been while wasting the possibilities of today and tomorrow. Nobody can change the past as such; everybody can change the impact of the past on the future. Even the negative experiences of the past can help us to prevent similar mistakes in our new life direction,” (pp. 266-267).

After Peter answers these three questions, Jesus also says: ‘Feed my lambs’; ‘tend my sheep’ and ‘feed my sheep.’ In other words, Peter has to journey with each sheep for a lifetime. Fr. Domie Guzman (Sabbath, May 9, 2008) explained this further by saying that: first, Jesus says: “Feed My Lambs.” A lamb is delicate and defenceless and so it has to be fed and cared for like a baby. In other words, like Jesus, we have to guide and stimulate others in their faith, helping them to reach the maturity God wants of them.

Second, Jesus says: “Tend my sheep.” When a lamb becomes a sheep, it can graze for food and so what the shepherd has to do is to tend the sheep and see to it that it does astray from the group. In other words, following Jesus, we have to take care of other people. And through this question, ‘do you love me?’ God presses us for an answer in our day to day living.

Third, Jesus says: “Feed my sheep.” Finally the sheep becomes old and weak and so it must be kept healthy for its remaining years by the loving hands of the shepherd. In other words, we have to follow Him unconditionally.