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Gospel: John 21: 15-19
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.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When they first stood together along the shores of Galilee, Jesus made a promise to Peter and the others, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The disciples had little idea of what their future held in store, but with hearts filled with hope and expectation, they dropped their nets, left their families, and followed him.
As their three-year journey with Jesus unfolded, the promise, “I will make you fishers of men,” became clearer. Initially, the disciples hoped this would involve wielding political power after Jesus was crowned an earthly king.
But after his death, those dreams fell back asleep…forever.
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Before ascending to his Father, the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples for forty days and forty nights to clarify this call.
Finally, they understood what the call of being a “fisher of men” really meant – to love, to serve, to preach, to pray, to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that Christ taught them.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus has a working brunch with Peter – fish and bread served over a charcoal fire. While Peter is also called to become a “fisher of men” like his brothers, notice the Lord uses different imagery when speaking to him alone.
“Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.”
Peter is not one fisherman among many. He is the shepherd. The one whose voice unites the sheep; the one whom everyone must listen to and follow; the one who holds the keys to the kingdom.
The one who is the direct successor to Christ on earth.
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That power has been handed down from one shepherd – one pope – to the next over the last two-thousand years. In my own lifetime, I’ve heard the voices of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and now Leo.
Perhaps today we can pray for our shepherd, who has the unique burden of leading more than one-billion Catholics; the one whose voice cries out for peace on the world stage; who is tasked with living like his Master, giving us all an example to follow.
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Image credits: (1) Breakfast with the King, Matt Philleo (2) Disciples of Jesus Fishing, Duccio di Buoninsegna (3) PBS