Homily originally presented May 5, 2019

Do you love me, Peter?

Right after praying the 9 and 11 o’clock  Masses last Sunday, I drove to ACTA Theatre up in Trussville, Alabama to see the Stage Play, “Little Women”.

it’s a famous play about the life experiences of a family...

a Mom and Dad and 4 beautiful daughters, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth.

All of the actors and actresses did an amazing job in their roles ...

including my 13 year old niece, Janay, who played in her first acting role ...

as the youngest daughter, Beth.

Afterwards, I got to congratulate many of the cast members ... calling them by their stage name ... as that was the name they had become for the play.

In doing this, I recalled a touching experience that took place a few years ago

after the play called “The Last Supper”  where many people also stayed after

to congratulate the cast members ... and a little 5-year old boy

came face to face with the actor Beau McMinn who had played Jesus,

and without any hesitation the little boy looked at him & said, “I love you Jesus.”

Wow!          Those would be the perfect words to say in meeting Jesus!

Is there anything else you could you possibly say ...

that would be more meaningful to Jesus ...

than those 4 words ... “I love you Jesus”?

I don’t think so!

That little 5 yr. old boy knew exactly what to say to Jesus!

It’s a beautiful example of Jesus’ declaration in Matt. 21:

 “Out of the mouth of babes you have brought forth praise.”

Yes, the number one thing that Jesus wants to hear from us ... is our love for Him.

We’ve just commemorated His love for us ...

as we recalled how He gave His life for us on Good Friday.

And what does He want?         He wants us to love Him in return!

In our Gospel today, we hear the account of Peter ...

coming face to face with the Risen Jesus on the shores of the sea of Tiberias.

And what is it that Jesus wants to know of Peter?

He asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  

Peter says, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

And then a second and still a third time Jesus asks, “Simon, do you love me?”

John tells us that Peter was distressed

that Jesus asked him a third time if he loved Him.

Yet Peter replied, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.”

Those are definitely the words that Jesus wanted to hear from him ...

and they are definitely the words that Jesus wants to hear from us!

 … the words …

“I love you, Jesus.”… words that came so freely & automatically from a 5 year old boy!

What do you think you’ll say when you get to see Him face to face?

Yes, we know that day is coming … the day we die ...

when we stand before Jesus to make an accounting of our lives.

It’s quite possible that Jesus will ask us the same question He asked Peter.

Hear Him ask you by name:

“Do you love me, Bob?”           “Do you love me, Kathy?”

“Do you love me, Tom?”          “Do you love me, Linda?”

How will you answer?

Will you say, “Oh yeah, Lord, of course I love you!”

Those would definitely be the right words … but are they the truth?

Realize that you’ll be speaking to Jesus, who is Absolute Truth …

so you won’t get by ... by lying … they’ll be no way of fooling Him.

And you yourself will know the truth… as your whole life flashes before your eyes.

Will your life show that you really loved the Lord?

Will your life enable you to say, “Lord, you know that I love you.”

Some Theologians suggest that the reason that Jesus asked Peter the same question three times was to overcome Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus.

(Recall that after Jesus was arrested, Peter denied three times that he knew Him.) 

And so, before the Risen Jesus re-commissions Peter as the leader of His flock,

He gives Peter three opportunities to re-affirm his love for Him.

Now, if it’s true that Peter’s three-fold affirmation ...

was needed to overcome his three-fold denial,

then how many times is Jesus going to have to ask us ... the same question?

Because you see, each time we’ve sinned, we’ve denied our love for Him!

So, we could be answering the same question a long time, couldn’t we?

Sin is turning away from Jesus … it’s denying we know Him!

Whereas, Love is turning toward Jesus ... it’s following and obeying Him!

From our own experiences it’s clear that when we love someone...

we certainly want them ... to love us in return.

For example, in dating … when a man or a women falls in love ...

their hope is that the other person will fall in love with them too!

Love is a two-way street … We love and we want to be loved in return.

That’s how we live in love … when it flows both ways.

This is the case in raising a family ...  where parents shower love and affection on their children hoping that their children will grow up to love them in return.

And so ... it makes every bit of sense that with Jesus’ great love for us,

that He would want us to love Him in return!

Now, Love is much more than words …

loving someone has to show up in action.

If we really love someone ... we’ll not just say it … we’ll show it.

Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “If you love Me, you’ll keep my commandments.”

There’s the action that will affirm our love for Him … that we keep His commands.

So the question is,    “Are we doing that?    Are we keeping God’s commands?”

The 3rd Commandment of God defines an important way we show our love for Him. 

He says: “Keep Holy the Lord’s Day” which means to gather as His Family in Church each Sunday ... so we can experience His love for us

         and show our love for Him.

Are you doing that? Are you following His command to attend Mass every Sunday?

This is so important to Jesus! He wants us to stay united with Him & one another.

He doesn’t want us to wander away and be separated from Him.

This is why He established that other men would take over the job of leading His followers ... after He left this world and returned to the Father.

Today we hear after each of Peter’s 3 affirmations of love ...

Jesus commission him to ...

“Feed my lambs.”          “Tend my sheep.”           “Feed my sheep.”

The meaning of this is clear when we recall that Jesus referred to Himself as

the Good Shepherd and all of his followers as His sheep.

What did Jesus want Peter and the Apostles to feed His Sheep with ...

with His words in Scripture ... and His very Self in Holy Communion.

In each Mass, Jesus gives us the Truth in Word and in Sacrament ... and when we come here to Church to receive these gifts ... it gives Him great joy!

So, today, Jesus’ joy will reach new heights as 25 English speaking and

39 Spanish speaking students will be here to receive their First Holy Communion!

How happy for all of these children!

How happy for all of us ... to see them receive Divine nourishment that will guide them to fall in love with Jesus, follow His commands and merit to be in Heaven.

We Priests and Bishops of today have the same commission that Jesus gave to Peter & the Apostles ... to tend and feed ... all of you ... the sheep of His flock.

Please be faithful to His commands, especially by gathering in Church each Sunday to be nourished for the journey. For you parents of Children making their First Communion, I implore you to make today the first of Hundreds! Yes, if you drive them to Sunday Mass for the next 10 years till they’re 18, they could receive 500 Holy Communions!  And please bring them to Sunday School for the next 6 years ... they can make their Confirmation and receive even more spiritual gifts.

When you bring your children with you to Mass, your whole family will experience God’s love for them and they will fall in love with Him and when

the day comes that you get to see Him face to face,

you’ll  be able to say as automatically as that 5 yr old boy, “I love you, Jesus.”

And should Jesus ask you again, “Do you love me?”

you’ll  be able to respond as Peter did and say,

“Lord you know everything … you know that I love you.”