Do You Love Me? Reaffirming Divine Love

I welcome to this Third Sunday of Easter. May the Risen Lord who desires to restore our friendship with Him, fill us with peace and love.

The readings of today, especially the Gospel, remind us that God does not stop searching for us or loving us even when we have sinned against Him or denied Him like Peter. Rather, He seeks to restore the broken friendship by offering us another opportunity to make amends and to enter into a deeper and more committed friendship with Him. Our part is to sincerely reaffirm our love for Him and wholeheartedly carry out the responsibility that love entails.

In the first reading, the Apostles were arraigned before the Sanhedrin for preaching the Resurrected Lord and spreading the news of His Resurrection throughout Jerusalem, despite warnings from religious leaders to refrain from doing so. I was particularly moved by their courage to speak the truth, declaring: “We must obey God rather than men.” I was humbled by their joy for having been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the Sake of Christ. Dear child of God, would you be happy to suffer dishonor for the sake of Christ or would you rather compromise to be honored? This Apostolic courage to speak the truth and accept dishonor for Christ’s Sake is what we all must be ready to embrace if we should be worthy of the name Christians. We are often guilty of indifference and silence just because we value our honor and prestige more than the obligation to preserve and speak the truth. May God fill us with apostolic zeal and courage to stand for Him and declare Him in the presence of those who are enemies of the truth.

The second reading, taken from Revelation (the Apocalypse), presents John’s vision of the Risen Lord as the glorified “Lamb of God,” enthroned in Heaven. The whole of Revelation is an expression of Christian hope in the Risen Lord.

The Gospel tells the post-Resurrection story of our Merciful Savior Who goes in search of His band of disappointed and dejected disciples. The incident proves that Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances were not mere hallucinations. In the first part of today’s Gospel, the Risen Jesus appears to His disciples and gives them a symbol of their mission in a miraculous catch of fish followed by a grilled fish breakfast prepared by Jesus Himself. The second part is a dialogue between Jesus and Simon where Simon is asked three times whether he loves Jesus. Peter answers that he does, as if in reparation for his triple denial of Jesus. The two metaphors used in the story, namely feeding and shepherding, are the duties of the Church in her missionary work. Peter, as a forgiven sinner, is chosen for the quality of his love to serve as a leader in a community of brothers and sisters. In his primary mission, Peter is given the care of the vulnerable lambs and sheep, and he is told that fidelity to this mission will lead him to martyrdom.

My dearest, Peter denied Christ three times and was offered three new opportunities to reaffirm his love and commitment. This is the same way God comes to each of us daily, calling on us to reaffirm our commitment and love for Him for the many times we sin against Him. Do we ignore Him most of the time? He restored Peter’s dignity and placed a responsibility on his shoulders to shepherd His flock. We too are entrusted with this responsibility of caring for others, especially those entrusted to our care.

Dear friend, let us not forget that the Risen Lord is always with us in every difficulty and challenge of life. He is always ready to see us through when we recommit our lives to serve Him. Like the Apostles who made a miraculous catch, so shall we experience miracles in our lives when we draw closer to the Risen Christ and love Him with our all heart. The Risen Lord is present in our Christian worship. He is present on our altars during the Holy Mass to share His life with us. He is present in the words of Holy Scripture. He is there in the Sacraments and He is there where two or three are gathered in His name. (Matthew 18: 20)

Let’s reaffirm and open up ourselves to God so that He can use us as instruments in caring for His suffering, His sick, and His abandoned and vulnerable children.

Prayer Lord, You do know that I love You. You also know how weak I am. Let me hear Your invitation to express my love for You and my desire for Your Mercy. May I offer this love and desire to the fullest extent. .

Listen to Scott Hann 👇and get a deeper understanding of today’s gospel