Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs | USCCB
In our gospel we hear the Risen Jesus approach Peter,
and three times ask him, “Do you love me?” As you recall, Jesus predicted at
the Last Supper that Peter would deny knowing Jesus three times. Following
the Last Supper, Jesus was arrested, Peter was near where the Lord was, and
people recognized him. They inquired as to whether Peter was a follower of
Jesus Christ. Peter, out of fear, denied being His follower. It was out of
human weakness that Peter did this. What caused Peter such anguish was that he
had bragged to Jesus that he would never deny him. But when the going got
tough, Peter allowed his fear to take over and then denied Jesus, not once, but
three times.
Jesus, in His love for Peter, allowed Peter to reverse
the three-time denial of knowing the Lord. Peter responds, “Lord, you know
everything; you know that I love you.” Peter would go on, after the ascension
of Jesus into heaven, to be the leader of the apostles, and to proclaim that
Jesus not only suffered and died but rose again on the third day and ascended
into heaven for the sins of the world and for our salvation.
In today’s gospel, Jesus predicted that Peter would
also die for his acknowledgment of Jesus being the Messiah. Peter would go on to
be crucified just outside of Rome under the emperor Nero. According to
tradition, Peter, not feeling worthy to die in the same way as Jesus, was
crucified up-side-down. Peter went from denying that he knew Jesus to dying for
his faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
We are all called to imitate Peter in our following
and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. There may be times when we may want
to hide our faith from those around us due to fear of being misunderstood or
attacked for our faith. By doing so, we, like Peter, are denying Jesus. We
should never let fear hide our faith in Jesus from those in our lives. Our
faith in Jesus Christ is who we are. We are called to proclaim that Jesus
Christ is our Lord and savior with those around us. We are not to force our
faith on others, but we are never to be ashamed of our faith in Jesus Christ
either. We are to live in a way that shows the world that Jesus is central to
who we are as Catholic Christians.
Today we commemorate the martyrdom of the African
saints, Charles Lwanga and companions who were martyred between the years 1885
to 1887. Rather than deny their faith in Jesus Christ, they chose to die for
their belief in Jesus and their Catholic faith.
Let us live each day as followers of Jesus Christ, like
St. Peter, and St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, be proud of our faith in
the Lord, and say to Jesus each time we receive Him in Holy Communion, “Lord,
you know everything; you know that I love you.”
I have heard some commentators on the Gospel state that when Our LORD initially asked Peter "Do you love me more than these?" Our LORD used the word "agape", which is sacrificial love & Peter, aware of his recent failure that made him no better than his peers & the fear that made him unable to sacrifice his life, responded by using the term "philio", which is an affectionate, brotherly, friendship form of love. The second time Our LORD used the term "agape" but without the comparison phrase, & again, Peter responded by using "philio". The third time Our LORD went down to meet Peter at his level & used the word "philio". Peter, humbled by his failure, affirmed his love for the LORD that showed his awareness of his human weakness, & the LORD accepted him as he was.
ReplyDelete