Lord you know that I love You
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A well-known speaker began a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. He asked the audience, “Who would like to have this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He then said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” The hands remained in the air. "Well,” he added, “What if I do this?” He dropped it to the floor and proceeded to grind it with his shoe. He picked it up, crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?” Still a few hands were raised because the bill had not decreased in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we feel crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. No matter what has happened to us, however, we never lose our value in God’s eyes. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are, but from Him to whom we belong! We are special and unique – let us never forget it! This is the lesson of today’s gospel, which tells us how Jesus chose Peter to be the leader of his Church, even though Peter had denied him three times.
In any event, "the one thing, about which Jesus questioned Peter prior to commissioning him to tend the flock, was love. This is the basic qualification for Christian service. Other qualities may be desirable, but love is completely indispensable (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3).” We really do not have an idea of how great God’s mercy is. It is so difficult for us - who often find it so difficult to forgive - to understand that God can forgive us so easily and so totally.
Fr. Jack McArdle tells a story about God’s forgiveness. Imagine when you die and Jesus comes to meet you and shows you a video of your entire life. On the video, you see all the good things you did. But there are also a number of blanks on the tape. You ask why there are such blanks on the tape of your life. Jesus tells you these were the times when you sinned and asked for God’s mercy. When God forgives, he completely blanks out our sins and does not remember.
We too are no strangers to sin. Even the best of us are no strangers to sin; Prov. 24:16 says a just man falls seven times a day and rises again.
But the great thing was that Jesus loved Peter. He loved the person and not the person's performance. They were loved for who they were and not for what they did. This is the extraordinary quality of God's love and of all true love.
In Greek, there are many different words for love, such as Eros, physical love; or philia, meaning brotherly love between relatives and friends; or agape, a word which we don’t have in English, which means “unconditional, unlimited, all-inclusive, sacrificial, nonviolent suffering love for all people everywhere.”
An old farmer’s claim for compensation for personal injury was denied by his insurance company because at the time of the accident he said there was nothing wrong with him. So the farmer took the matter to court. The judge asked the farmer "Is it true that after the accident you declared there was nothing wrong with you?" "Well, your Honor, it was like this. I was driving down the road in my pickup with my cow Betsy in the back, when suddenly a big semi-truck pulled out in front of me and I crashed into it. I went flying this way and Betsy went flying that way. When I came to, an officer was standing beside me. He said, 'The cow is in bad shape. I don’t think she’s going to make it.' And he pulled out his gun and shot Betsy dead. Then, holding his smoking pistol, he turned to me and asked, 'Now, how do you feel?'" Saying: I’m fine can mean different things in different contexts. Likewise, using the word love can mean different things in different contexts.
In the original Greek, Jesus asks Simon, “Do you have agape for me?” Do you have unconditional love for me? Are you going to lay down your life for me?” Peter says, “Yes, Lord, I have philia for you. I have brotherly love for you.” He doesn’t answer the question! So Jesus asks him again, “Do you have agape for me?” and again Peter says, “Yes, I have philia for you.” So Jesus asks finally, “Simon, son of John, do you have agape for me?”Then the answer came ‘Lord you know that I love you.’
This is one of two scenes in the Gospel which should be indelibly or unforgettably etched on the minds and hearts of every Christian. The other scene is that of Judas Iscariot hanging from a tree. Judas was probably the most gifted of all the apostles. When he learned that Jesus had been condemned to death the thirty pieces of silver became as hot coals in his pocket. It burns. He ran to the temple and threw the coins on the floor and went out and hanged himself on a tree.
These two scenes dramatically illustrate that ultimately there is only one failure, one tragedy in life. That is to despair of the unconditional love of God and to think that our sin is greater, more powerful than the love of God. Jesus would have forgiven Judas just as he had Simon Peter.
Sometimes faith is the courage to accept acceptance, the courage to accept God’s forgiveness and acceptance of ourselves. Peter recovered his faith after his despair; he was able to say, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you”. So let us not allow the past to overcome us like Judas. Instead let us be like Peter and repent and reform ourselves and allow the Lord to put us to work for him again.
The lesson for us is clear. When we meet the Risen Jesus on the shores of the Last Judgment, he will not ask us how virtuous, how successful or how productive we have been. He will ask, “Do you love me?” So how are we going to answer him? We can say quickly, “Yes, Jesus I love you,” but St. Ignatius advises that love is shown in deeds, not in words, so we have to show Jesus that we love him by doing what he says, by putting love into practice, and as Dorothy Day liked to say, “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A well-known speaker began a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. He asked the audience, “Who would like to have this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He then said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” The hands remained in the air. "Well,” he added, “What if I do this?” He dropped it to the floor and proceeded to grind it with his shoe. He picked it up, crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?” Still a few hands were raised because the bill had not decreased in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we feel crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. No matter what has happened to us, however, we never lose our value in God’s eyes. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are, but from Him to whom we belong! We are special and unique – let us never forget it! This is the lesson of today’s gospel, which tells us how Jesus chose Peter to be the leader of his Church, even though Peter had denied him three times.
In any event, "the one thing, about which Jesus questioned Peter prior to commissioning him to tend the flock, was love. This is the basic qualification for Christian service. Other qualities may be desirable, but love is completely indispensable (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3).” We really do not have an idea of how great God’s mercy is. It is so difficult for us - who often find it so difficult to forgive - to understand that God can forgive us so easily and so totally.
Fr. Jack McArdle tells a story about God’s forgiveness. Imagine when you die and Jesus comes to meet you and shows you a video of your entire life. On the video, you see all the good things you did. But there are also a number of blanks on the tape. You ask why there are such blanks on the tape of your life. Jesus tells you these were the times when you sinned and asked for God’s mercy. When God forgives, he completely blanks out our sins and does not remember.
We too are no strangers to sin. Even the best of us are no strangers to sin; Prov. 24:16 says a just man falls seven times a day and rises again.
But the great thing was that Jesus loved Peter. He loved the person and not the person's performance. They were loved for who they were and not for what they did. This is the extraordinary quality of God's love and of all true love.
In Greek, there are many different words for love, such as Eros, physical love; or philia, meaning brotherly love between relatives and friends; or agape, a word which we don’t have in English, which means “unconditional, unlimited, all-inclusive, sacrificial, nonviolent suffering love for all people everywhere.”
An old farmer’s claim for compensation for personal injury was denied by his insurance company because at the time of the accident he said there was nothing wrong with him. So the farmer took the matter to court. The judge asked the farmer "Is it true that after the accident you declared there was nothing wrong with you?" "Well, your Honor, it was like this. I was driving down the road in my pickup with my cow Betsy in the back, when suddenly a big semi-truck pulled out in front of me and I crashed into it. I went flying this way and Betsy went flying that way. When I came to, an officer was standing beside me. He said, 'The cow is in bad shape. I don’t think she’s going to make it.' And he pulled out his gun and shot Betsy dead. Then, holding his smoking pistol, he turned to me and asked, 'Now, how do you feel?'" Saying: I’m fine can mean different things in different contexts. Likewise, using the word love can mean different things in different contexts.
In the original Greek, Jesus asks Simon, “Do you have agape for me?” Do you have unconditional love for me? Are you going to lay down your life for me?” Peter says, “Yes, Lord, I have philia for you. I have brotherly love for you.” He doesn’t answer the question! So Jesus asks him again, “Do you have agape for me?” and again Peter says, “Yes, I have philia for you.” So Jesus asks finally, “Simon, son of John, do you have agape for me?”Then the answer came ‘Lord you know that I love you.’
This is one of two scenes in the Gospel which should be indelibly or unforgettably etched on the minds and hearts of every Christian. The other scene is that of Judas Iscariot hanging from a tree. Judas was probably the most gifted of all the apostles. When he learned that Jesus had been condemned to death the thirty pieces of silver became as hot coals in his pocket. It burns. He ran to the temple and threw the coins on the floor and went out and hanged himself on a tree.
These two scenes dramatically illustrate that ultimately there is only one failure, one tragedy in life. That is to despair of the unconditional love of God and to think that our sin is greater, more powerful than the love of God. Jesus would have forgiven Judas just as he had Simon Peter.
Sometimes faith is the courage to accept acceptance, the courage to accept God’s forgiveness and acceptance of ourselves. Peter recovered his faith after his despair; he was able to say, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you”. So let us not allow the past to overcome us like Judas. Instead let us be like Peter and repent and reform ourselves and allow the Lord to put us to work for him again.
The lesson for us is clear. When we meet the Risen Jesus on the shores of the Last Judgment, he will not ask us how virtuous, how successful or how productive we have been. He will ask, “Do you love me?” So how are we going to answer him? We can say quickly, “Yes, Jesus I love you,” but St. Ignatius advises that love is shown in deeds, not in words, so we have to show Jesus that we love him by doing what he says, by putting love into practice, and as Dorothy Day liked to say, “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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