DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE?

FRIDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 25:13-21; Ps 102:1-2,11-12,19-20; Jn 21:15-19

Theme: Holy Spirit Our Purifier

In addition to the internal fortification the Holy Spirit provides against evil, which we have considered at length, we also have an external structure that he puts in place for the safety and guidance of the faithful. The external fortification works hand in hand with the internal structure to ensure the safety of those on the way to eternal life. The internal structure consists of our growth and development in the mysteries of Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit. He guides us through our daily meditation on the word of God to strengthen our faith; through prayer and contemplation of the mysteries to inflame our love; through these, we attain a deep knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. He also makes Jesus real in our lives by pouring the love for Jesus and the Father daily into our souls. Our faithfulness to these inner spiritual processes makes our inner man one with the Lord and docile to his Spirit. When the inner man is well-built and patterned in the image of the Son, it is subsequently employed to build up the external structure. 

It is the custom of Engineers to study the strength of materials to employ them suitably in their construction of external structures. The same thing applies to the Lord and the construction of his living and heavenly Temple. Our docility to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and cooperation with the graces the Lord sends each day all enter into the constitution of our inner man prepared for the external structure built under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The annealing of our inner man is carried out through external trials and sufferings. Here, we must understand what it means to call God our Father. A thorough and deep understanding of the Lordship of Jesus Christ helps us to stay calm through the spiritual annealing process guided by the Holy Spirit. The trials and persecutions of St. Paul in the first reading offer us a good example. The Lord appeared to him and encouraged him to continue witnessing to his name; from Jerusalem, he proceeded to Rome for the same purpose. All his spiritual experiences were part of the preparation for his life of preaching, and the trials of his preaching ministry contributed to the perfection of his spiritual self. Thus, the Lord made him into a pillar to support and carry the Gospel message to the Gentile world. His genuine conversion and docility to the Holy Spirit made his training and ministry successful. 

We see the same thing in the gospel. The Lord purified the love of Peter for him many times to prepare him for the external ministry. The Father chose Peter, often presented in the Gospels as inconsistent and impetuous, to be the leader of the flock of Jesus Christ. Our Lord revealed that choice when Peter confessed faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Thus, the inner or spiritual strength is not from our natural constitution, but from our firm confession of faith in God, which is perfected by our love for God. In the gospel, Jesus symbolically reveals to Peter what loving him would entail. “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do? He answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.’” When the same question was put to him for the third time, he was upset since he did not understand why the Lord was repeating the same question to him. The Spirit takes us through the same circle of sufferings and trials sometimes to anneal us; just as we do with metals, heating them and cooling them many times in succession to achieve the level of strength required for them to serve a given purpose. This strength that comes from docility is what the Lord referred to when he said: “When you grow old you will stretch out your hands and somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go.” Faith and love of God are required for us to attain this perfection. 

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to be faithful to the graces made abundant for us through the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, that docile to the purification and guidance of the Holy Spirit we may grow to the full maturity of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

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