Example of Love & Forgiveness

The last few days we have been focused on Jesus' prayer for his disciples and for us, the present day followers. As I emphasized, Jesus' prayer is an example for all of us, to take the time each day and pray. Now, we have another beautiful example from John's Gospel. The particular passage is John 21:15-19. This passage shows our Lord reaffirming the faith and confidence of the apostle Peter. We know that prior to his passion, Peter had told Jesus that he would remain with him no matter what. Jesus foretells that Peter will not stand by him and in fact, deny that he knows him three times. That came to pass and we know that after Peter realized what he had done he went and wept bitterly. To show his love and forgiveness Jesus says to Peter, three times, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Each time Peter responds that he does and Jesus tells him that he needs to feed his lambs or tend the sheep. Three is a perfect number and that is used very well here. Peter denies Jesus three times and Jesus renews Peter's faith three times. The commentator puts it very well, "Jesus' love for Peter transforms Peter's betrayal into a love that knows no bounds. His guilt forgiven, Peter becomes truly the rock of faith on which the Church is built. The Spirit washes away the guilt; the Spirit animates the love and faithfulness of the apostle and of the Church" (Magnificat, 138). This is truly a message of hope! Let us be mindful of God's great love and forgiveness and may we bring that Good News to others. Blessings to you!!!