Friday of 7th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Let us recommit ourselves to Jesus.

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