Daily Catholic Lectio
Fri, 17 May 2024
Seventh Week of Easter – Friday
Acts 25:13-21. John 21:15-19
Follow me!
As the Easter season comes to a close, we have the readings – today and tomorrow – from the last pages of the Gospel of John.
The gospel reading could be divided into three parts: (a) Jesus asks Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’ (b) Jesus foretells Peter about his final days. (c) Peter receives the call the second time.
(a) ‘Do you love me?’
At the sea of Galilee, when other disciples were napping after their lunch, Jesus took Peter aside for a while and asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” This narrative is found but in John. Why does John write this? Some say John had to write this to authenticate Jesus’ call to the Early Christian Community, which was scandalised by Peter’s denial of Jesus three times. Some others say that this is the vocation story of Peter prior to Jesus’ ministry, but this is this is brought later to the end of the book. Though the word ‘love’ is given three times, in the original text there is a difference. In the first two instances, we have the word ‘agapao’ (‘selfless love’), while in the third instance, we have ‘phileo’ (‘friendship’ or ‘friendly love’). In the third question, Jesus asks Peter about his personal relationship with him. There, Peter surrenders, saying, “Lord, you know everything!” Our relationship with Jesus, though it begins at a functional level, moves towards a relational or personal level.
(b) “You will stretch out your hands”
Jesus foretells Peter about his final days: “When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” These words are about our final days as well. It takes a lot of courage to let go and to stretch one’s hands. A person who owns his or her vulnerability will be able to stretch out his or her hands.
(c) “Follow me!”
Finally, Jesus says to Peter, “Follow me!” Jesus calls Peter with the same words with which he called his first disciples in the Synoptic gospels. Let this expression be a lesson for us today.
Jesus points to Peter the two directions of his life: “going where you wanted,” and “being led by someone else to a place that Peter will not want to go.” The first direction is because of Peter’s choice. The second direction is because of someone else’s force. There is a third direction in between these two, i.e., the direction of following Jesus. Jesus instructs Peter to choose this direction.
Discipleship simply means ‘change of direction’; changing our direction to God.
In the first reading, we read about Paul’s change of direction. Paul, who had his face directed towards Damascus, later changed towards Jerusalem and finally towards Rome. He kept his gaze on Christ.
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“The first sign of hope should be the desire for peace in our world, which once more finds itself immersed in the tragedy of war.” Pope Francis, Bull of Indiction, 9 May 2024, no. 8 (Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 100).
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
# Be M.er.cy.Fool
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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