If you love, then DO

Commentary on John 21:15-19, the Gospel for Friday of the 7^th Week of Easter (Year II):

I remember the time when I read this passage and it struck my emotions and I was given the gift of tears. (Well, actually, the damn broke!) To think of it. Peter had denied Jesus, had sinned horribly and in a way which humiliated him, as our sins so often do.

Jesus spoke not a word of reproach. I am reminded of the father’s actions in the parable of the prodigal son, who also spoke no reproach but rather embraced his son and dressed him in fine clothes and proclaimed a feast to celebrate his return.

Not a word of reproach to the miserable sinner. Just this: Do you love me?

I, a poor miserable sinner, stand before the Lord and confess my sins and He replies, Do you love me? And He askes this question knowing full well that yes, I do love Him, even when I go against His wishes and depart from His way and violate His commandments. Even when I do things that hurt others, or am insensitive to others’ needs or neglect to provide something that is needed, something that I easily could have given. Even with all of this, I know that I do indeed love Him. I have failed Him but I love Him.

That must certainly make sense to any parent with wayward children. That is also true when our friends might let us down. They still love us, but their love-capacity was on overload, or even turned off for a time.

Do you love me?

Do you love me?

Do you love me?

Three times the same question to Peter, and each positive answer from him wipes away his three horrible sins. He got the point clearly and was saddened by the third question because he understood why it was asked three times. He was convicted not by a judge, but by the love of the divine Lover.

Do you love him?

Jesus reply was very simple: Go and do something about it. Realize that every single person in the world is part of Jesus’ flock. Every nationality, every race, every circumstance. Do something for them, however that may be possible in your own personal world. Show your love by what you do.

Even the most simple of gestures. Remember that Jesus taught that if we give so much as a cup of water to someone who needs it, we have gained our reward in heaven. So don’t wait for some fantastic opportunity to make a grand gesture. Look for the simple things. Pray to become more attentive, because if you are like me, there are a thousand little needs that I pass by without even giving them a thought.

Lord, what shall I do?

He will answer this question for you just as he did for Peter. It may be something small and seemingly insignificant. It may be your very life? Just be attentive and all shall be well.

God bless you.

Feeble promises

Tuesday of Holy Week

The Gospel of the Day: John 13:21-23,36-38.

I will lay down my life for you. ß Peter’s promise to the Lord.

We who know what will happen soon look with pity on Peter’s promise—a promise he will not be able to keep. His heart is in the right place, but his human weakness will not provide the courage he would need to be able to make good on his promise. The ironic point, however, is that eventually Peter will lay down his life for his Lord, but a lot will have to happen until that moment comes to pass. Right now, Peter isn’t capable, isn’t strong enough, and although he does have a good heart, he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit yet, and he also hasn’t yet undergone the experience of bitter failure and the forgiveness that will follow.

So right now, Peter makes a feeble promise, not knowing what the future will bring.

Have you ever made a promise that you weren’t able to keep?  Think about it. Don’t beat yourself up, but look at your failure compassionately. What was operating at the time, despite your wish to be able to fulfill the promise? Have you prayed for forgiveness---now would be a very good time if you haven’t.

What’s more, how did your experience of failure serve to purify you, to strengthen you, to make you more compassionate when faced with the weakness of others.

This might also be a time for you to look with compassion at anyone who may have broken a promise to you, and to forgive, even if you don’t fully understand what happened.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Apply that to yourself and then to anyone who may have offended or hurt you. You will find peace if you can do this.

God bless you

No matter how low you may have fallen . . .

We continue with Psalm 51:12

               

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Remember that David was chosen by God, a fearless warrior, a great and powerful king and a virtuous one at that. His prayer was sublime and eloquent. He was the composer of most of the 150 psalms we have; in fact, this particular psalm was his psalm of repentance when he realized what wrong he had done.

And the great and almighty are fallen. David reached the heights of human perfection, but was brought down low by temptation to the point where he was guilty of adultery and indirect murder. (See II Samuel 11 and 12.)

If such a thing could happen to David, what might happen to us. Every single day, it is God’s grace that keeps us from falling into decadence and depravity, and we must always remember that, especially when we are tempted to judge people who have fallen prey to what is the worst in human nature. “There but for the grace of God go I” must be our constant prayer.

Notice in these verses that the first one speaks of the “heart” while the second one speaks of the “spirit.” These two words are used interchangeably in the scriptures. “Heart” generally refers to what is particular to the body while “spirit” refers to the supernatural part of our being. What David prays for in this verse, and we as well, one commentator says, is a “total renovation of his entire mental and moral nature, which he recognizes as corrupt and depraved.” (See www.biblehub.com/commentaries for excellent information about any passage of Scripture).

Do we sometimes perceive our natures as corrupt and depraved? If not, we still must recognize that no matter how “well-off” we think we may be in the spiritual life, it is possible for us to fall as David had fallen. And at that time, we need not lose hope, for God’s love is greatest for those who are most in need of his mercy. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We can pray no more honest prayer than that. It also helps to consider Saint Peter, who also fell in a horrible way, but yet was restored by his Lord who asked him, despite everything, “Do you love me?”

One final observation: David prays for a “steadfast” spirit. The Hebrew word used here means “firm, constant or steadfast.” What David is praying for is a spirit so fixed and unmovable that it will not easily be shaken in time of even the most powerful temptations. Something for us to pray for as well, is it not?

God bless you.

You will be made worthy

Today I return to the hymn I posted a few days ago (which is repeated at the end of this reflection). Today we look at the second verse:

We cannot fish the ocean’s depth with nets shrunk by fear.

We need the gift of greater faith when we your summons hear.

And, if we plead unworthiness for what your call demands,

Then may we trust you’ll cleanse and calm our soiled, unsteady hands.

Just the other day we read about Peter falling at Jesus’ feet and saying “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus didn’t even listen to his excuse—or rather, I should say, he looked beyond Peter’s excuse and could see just what sort of man Peter would become as a result of his discipleship and God’s grace.

Sometimes, I think, he looks beyond our excuses as well. When I first read this verse I couldn’t help thinking of Isaiah 6:1-8 which was the first reading the same day we read about Peter. Like Peter was fearful after hearing the Lord teach; Isaiah was given a vision of the glory of God, a vision that we recount when we sing the Sanctus at every Mass. His reaction was similar to Peter’s: “I am doomed! I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips.” The Lord sent an angel to him with an ember from the altar and put it to his lips and declared that Isaiah was not cleansed and purged. Then the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send,” and Isaiah readily replied, “Send me.”

What is the basis or your unworthiness, your impurity, your sinfulness? Remember that God looks beyond all of that when He issues a summons to us, a summons that most often comes through the ordinary things in our lives, or a request for help from someone, or a need that we come to recognize as we grow in faith. Don’t let your excuses, or your Critic (see the reflections for 1/22 and 1/23) hold you back. Don’t let any of that “shrink your nets,” as the hymn so poetically says.

Answer the call. God will make you worthy. He will cleanse you. He will strengthen you. He will empower you. And in this, I speak from personal experience, from experiences that have happened over and over again in my life, in ways big and small.

God bless you.

The hymn:

From shallow waters call us, Lord, from safety near the shore,

And bid us launch upon the depths where faith is tested more.

Let not past failures hope destroy nor caution paralyze,

But help us follow where you lead and wait for Love’s surprise.

We cannot fish the ocean’s depths with nets shrunk small by fear.

We need the gift of greater faith when we your summons hear.

And, if we plead unworthiness from what your call demands,

Then may we trust you’ll cleanse and calm our soiled, unsteady hands.

We dare to launch on unknown seas and cast our nets abroad,

For you have bid us grasp by faith the promises of God.

O Christ, you crossed the same wide seas you send us now to sail;

Be present when we reach the depths with strength that does not fail!

For neither fear nor scorn nor death could turn you back to land.

You knew no storms could carry you beyond your Father’s hand.

Your cross seemed but a fragile craft upon an angry sea,

Till Easter dawn brought light and peace through Love that sets us free!

Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. 1973-2007. © 2006, GIA Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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He will not give up on you

In today’s Gospel passage for Mass (Luke 5:1-11), Jesus calls Peter to be the first of his apostles. Peter, the fisherman: uneducated, poor, living a life of hard labor, and, by his own admission, a sinner. When he realized that he was in the presence of a great and holy man (the Gospel doesn’t tell us exactly what Peter thought of Jesus), he fell to his knees and cried out, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But Jesus didn’t depart. He had great love for the sinful man—great love for us sinners, as well—and he called him to become a member of his company.

Little did Peter know at that moment just how great was his destiny. Little did he know what he would be learning by following Jesus. Little did he know how he would be put to the test many times over the next three years. Little did he know how serious would be the sins he would commit even though he had been close to the Lord and tried to follow him.

And again, faced with a great sinner—one who had actually denied that he even knew Jesus, Jesus never rebukes him. Instead, he speaks of love: “Do you love me?” he asks Peter three times. (John 21:15-21)

So understand this: Your sin does not drive Jesus away, it brings him closer to you. Your sin does not cut you off from his love: in fact his love is even greater. Your sin doesn’t mean that you don’t love Jesus, either. Your failure doesn’t betray that love. And over and above all the sins you may have committed, no matter how despicable they may be—over and above all of that are the extended arms of Jesus ready to embrace you, to forgive you, and perhaps even challenge you to pick yourself up and follow him again. And despite all of your unworthiness, no matter how it is that you find yourself unworthy, he may want to use you to do great things in this world.

Peter cries, “Depart from me, Lord.” The Gospel—the Good News—is that he will not depart from you, no matter what. Cling to that hope.

God bless you.

Advent trust

We continue today with our Reflections on the verses of the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

I encourage you to continue substituting your own name in place of the word “Israel” in order to make this wonderful hymn your own personal prayer.

Verse 4:

O Come, O Rod of Jesse’s stem.

From ev’ry foe deliver them

That trust your mighty power to save,

And give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you,

O [Israel].

The key word in this verse is trust. Do you, can you, trust that God will indeed deliver you from the enemies of your soul and of your peace, serenity, security and well-being? Ask God continually to increase your capacity to trust him. Look back over the landscape of your life and recall those times when he has, indeed, delivered you from something or someone that threatened to wreck havoc in your life. Give thanks for his great mercy to you, and build your trust in the present time on the realities you discover in your own past. More simply put: he has delivered you, he is delivering you (even if you aren’t aware of it) and he will deliver you.

In his prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis eloquently points out to us the kinds of deliverance that are described in the Gospels. Let the words of his prayer serve to increase our own faith and hope and trust:

Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;

the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;

made Peter weep after his betrayal,

and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.

Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: ‘If only you knew the gift of God.’

Trust that the gift be given to you as well during this Advent season, in whatever way you need it. And, above all, remember that the greatest gift is yet to come: Our Lord is going to give each of us victory over the grave! Our physical death will be a temporary state for us and not the end of existence.

Pray for that trust as well.

Blessed  Advent to you.