"Do You Love Me?"
This morning’s Gospel selection is surely one of the loveliest. It seems much a carefully programmed farewell gathering that Jesus worked out—a last time together by the lake. At least for some of them.
The elements are clear:
A night of fruitless fishing by His disciples.What a beautiful morning! What a touching adieu! Christ comes onto a scene of human failure: a night’s work for nothing.
A miraculous catch at the suggestion of the Figure on the beach.
The encounter with Jesus, with first recognition by John, of course.
The breakfast He had prepared—the fire and the bread and the fish.
Their sharing in the breakfast with part of the fish catch.
The meal together on the shore.
And the dialog with Peter.
His response to that is abundant harvest.
This will be their life’s story in the years to come:
And no matter the scene: He will be there.failure and success.
darkness and light.
evil and good.
They gather in a meal, take food together. This too will be their life’s story:
We, too, are characterized by gathering together to take food, human and divine. The ritual of the altar is as beautiful as the ritual of the table, the liturgy of the Eucharist, the liturgy of the refectory. In the community, in the Church.the food of God’s word, God’s grace,
to be shared.
with one another and with all the world:
community, church.
Then the dialog of Jesus and Peter on the heart of the matter, that is to say, love.
The incident is as beautiful as anything in Scripture, on the shores of time and eternity, the basic question: “Do you love Me?”
And not merely love. A qualified love: “Do you love Me more than these? If you are my chosen one, is your love correspondingly greater?”
And to move it beyond sentiment, beyond feeling and pious emotions, Jesus asks him three times: “Do you love Me?”
Peter was surely near tears. And yet the Lord did not spare his feelings. Peter had to learn. He must acknowledge that self-reliance is no reliance at all. That posturing and performance are meaningless. In a crisis Peter was a disaster. But he admitted it, was absolved by a look from Jesus. But he’d best not forget it. Never again to rely on human prowess. And so Christ in three questions on love, undoes the three denials.
Find your place at this farewell and answer the invitation after failure and fruitless endeavor, to try again on the other side. And share the fruit of it with Jesus Himself and with His followers. And pledge love rooted in grace, aware of weakness and mindful of failure.
But all in joy. One cannot be morbidly timid for lack of courage, for dismal experience; rather, confident and trusting and in good cheer.
Soon or late we’ll meet Him on the shore. Indeed, perhaps we’ve already done so many times. Usually after failure. There to meet refreshment and renewal and a challenging encounter and a call to love.
The Sea of Tiberias is still there. About 13 miles long and 7 or 8 miles
wide. It still has fish. Not long ago they found a boat buried in the mud,
intact, from Jesus’ time. The very kind that Peter had. And Andrew, James
and John. Such a boat is called a “bark”. We call the Church a bark,
Peter’s. Amen.