Loving the Lord and being Loved by Him

In today's Gospel, John 21: 15-19, Jesus asks Peter three times:  "'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"  Simon Peter answered him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.'  Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He then said to Simon peter a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him a third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord you know everything;  you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep'...."

Let us imagine this conversation between Jesus and ourselves:

      "Dorothy Ann (insert your name), do you love me?"
      "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
      "Feed my lambs."

      "Dorothy Ann (insert your name), do you love me?"
      "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!"
      "Tend my sheep."

      "Dorothy Ann (insert  your name), do you love me?"
      "Yes, Lord you know everything. You KNOW that I love you."
      "Feed my sheep."

I might then ask the Lord: "Lord, why are you asking me this three times?" And his response might be: "Because, first of all,  I notice that you have an tendency to abandon my ways when the going gets rough just as Peter had done in his denials.  Second of all, I notice that you have a tendency to avoid sacrifices and take the easy way out, frustrating yourself in the long run and causing me the pain of seeing you in distress, even though I know that it is the distress that will catapult you into making more life-giving choices.  And third of all, I notice that you have a tendency to insist on being at my side on Calvary when I know that your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak, as was Peter's.  So, you see, I know that you love me but I also know that you need to be challenged in the same way that I challenged Peter. As with Peter, I am teaching you to depend upon me for the graces you need. Calling upon me repeatedly, you will, with Me at your side, feed and tend to my lambs and sheep.

Jesus' Intervention

In today’s first reading, Acts 9: 1-20,  Saul is on his way to Damascus to arrest men and women who are followers of Jesus. He has, in fact, been authorized by the high priest to bring people back to Jerusalem “in chains.”  On the way, Jesus confronts him:  “Saul, why are you persecuting me”?  Saul, startled, no doubt, asks the question: “Who are you, sir?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Imagine, in the middle of a conversation when you and I are attacking another person, speaking ill of someone, or even thinking evil of another, we suddenly, hear a voice saying: “Why are you persecuting me?”  Or, imagine a criminal in the act of critically harming or killing another person, or a parent arranging to kill the child in her womb, hearing a voice saying: “Why are you attacking me, arranging to kill me or planning evil against me?”  “What,” the person asks, “who are you?”  “I am Jesus, whom you are planning to kill, against whom you are enacting evil deeds and thoughts.  Get up and go to your parish or go home to your family  or see your spiritual director/mentor and you will be told what to do in my name. I have chosen you to right the wrongs you were contemplating and to become a staunch follower  and proclaimer of the Gospel, giving witness on a daily basis to my death and resurrection as the Son of God."