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Gospel: John 21: 15-17
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and
eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Pope John XXIII, whose feast day we celebrate today, models how to live a healthy spiritual life, balancing personal responsibility with trust in the Lord.
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When he was a young man, he wrote in his diary, “Whatever God has given me to do, I intend to do it all.”
Little did he know just how much he’d be asked to do.
After his ordination to the priesthood, John served in the medical corps and as chaplain during World War One.
He then became a spiritual director in the seminary.
Some years later was ordained a bishop. As a bishop, he served in the Vatican foreign service, living all around the world away from his family, including Bulgaria and Turkey.
His two final promotions included becoming a Cardinal, and eventually pope.
“Whatever God has given me to do, I intend to do it all.”
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I’m sure John would’ve shrieked as a young priest if he had known that one day he’d carry the weight of the entire Catholic Church on his shoulders, having to satisfy the Lord’s command in today’s Gospel: “feed my sheep.”
But as pope, John XXIII ended his prayers each night with the words, “Lord, today I have done all I can. It’s your Church. Now I’m going to bed.”
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What does John’s life teach us?
There are specific tasks that the Lord calls each of us to do – some great, others small. We do our best each day, then go to bed, leaving the rest up to the Lord.
Whatever God has given us to do – great or small – may we do it all.
Pope Saint John XXIII, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Catholic Apostolate Center Feast Days (2) Cochrane Street United Church (3) Hobbs