Friday of 7th
Week of Easter: reflection
Theme: Let us recommit ourselves to Jesus.
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Reading:
Jn. 21:15-19
Dear
friends in Christ, when we fail Jesus, He doesn’t give up on us, He doesn’t abandon
us. Rather, He, continually approaches us with clear opportunities to come back
to Him and reclaim our rightful positions. We are, however, the ones who often,
out of shame and feeling of guilt, distance ourselves from Him after every fall.
After denying
Jesus three times, Peter was not cast out by Jesus. Instead, Jesus came back to
Peter in today’s gospel reading and gave him opportunity to renew his commitment
to Him and once again assume his pastoral service of leading His flock.
Jesus’
demand for agape love (sacrificial, selfless, unconditional love) from Peter in
His first and second questions to him demonstrated the kind of recommitment He
wanted from Peter and, in extension, from all of us in our services to Him
after our falls. After every fall, Jesus opens a path for us to come back to
Him with renewed strength, and with a resolution to recommit ourselves totally
to Him above all else.
Peter’s persistent
response with philia love (brotherly love) to Jesus’ demand for agape love showed
our human weakness in accepting and entering the kind of relationship that God
demands from us. However, Jesus’ last question which changed from the demand for
agape love to that of philia love once again showed God’s readiness to accept the
little honest efforts that come from us.
Have you
deviated from the path that Jesus has set before you? Have you succumbed to
human weaknesses in your service to Jesus and humanity? Don't give up, don't
despair, don't become comfortable in your failures, because Jesus is still
interested in you; He has not given up on you. Rather, He has opened the door
for you to return and recommit yourself to Him, reclaiming your lost glory.
Mind you, He will appreciate even the smallest of your efforts.
May God
give value to your little efforts this Friday. Amen
Fr. Isaac C.
Chima
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