John 21:15-19
Today's gospel reading is ripe with thoughts and directions for all of us in our contemporary experiences of life. Let's begin with the verses that Jesus address to Peter about the end of his life.
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."
How many times have we heard these words or read them? What do they say to us about our experiences today? How about this? I was drawn to considering a personal experience that many have encountered of late: the day that I had to move my mother to a nursing home! What an experience of pain for me. What a moment when Mom felt the world was ending: instant death would have felt so much better.
Then to the three times Jesus asks Peter if he loved him. Every time I find myself confronted with a challenging moment and I would prefer doing something else, I am then being asked by Jesus, "Do you love me?" If I really love my God, then Jesus' response is so direct: then, go about the task and see this as feeding my sheep, tending my lambs.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in his newest publication, Excuses Begone!, relates the story of a fictional character in ancient Chinese literature. A monk, named Birdsnest because he meditated each day in a tree, was famous for his "spiritual direction." One day a government official came and shouted to Birdsnest that he wanted to know what all the wise ones had taught. Eventually the monk descended and answered the gentleman: "Don't do bad things. Always do good things."
The official considered his trip to the monk a waste of time. "I knew that when I was three years old." Then Birdsnest smiled and replied with his own great wisdom, "Yes, the three-year-old knows it, but the eighty-year-old still finds it very difficult to do."
This is what Jesus is asking us each time we find ourselves about to give in to temptations, to ignore the needs of others, to let laziness keep us from what we should be doing: "Don;t do bad things. Always do good things." We know that taking time for some prayer, time for being present with the Lord, letting him speak to us can be a challenge in a very busy world. When we have that feeling calling us to prayer, begging us to find some quiet, it is the Lord speaking to us: "Do you love me ... more than whatever seems so important to you at this moment?" And when we do take the time to listen, to let the Holy Spirit work within our hearts, then we always hear Jesus' words: "Feed my sheep!" Then we are called to action.
Then to the three times Jesus asks Peter if he loved him. Every time I find myself confronted with a challenging moment and I would prefer doing something else, I am then being asked by Jesus, "Do you love me?" If I really love my God, then Jesus' response is so direct: then, go about the task and see this as feeding my sheep, tending my lambs.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in his newest publication, Excuses Begone!, relates the story of a fictional character in ancient Chinese literature. A monk, named Birdsnest because he meditated each day in a tree, was famous for his "spiritual direction." One day a government official came and shouted to Birdsnest that he wanted to know what all the wise ones had taught. Eventually the monk descended and answered the gentleman: "Don't do bad things. Always do good things."
The official considered his trip to the monk a waste of time. "I knew that when I was three years old." Then Birdsnest smiled and replied with his own great wisdom, "Yes, the three-year-old knows it, but the eighty-year-old still finds it very difficult to do."
This is what Jesus is asking us each time we find ourselves about to give in to temptations, to ignore the needs of others, to let laziness keep us from what we should be doing: "Don;t do bad things. Always do good things." We know that taking time for some prayer, time for being present with the Lord, letting him speak to us can be a challenge in a very busy world. When we have that feeling calling us to prayer, begging us to find some quiet, it is the Lord speaking to us: "Do you love me ... more than whatever seems so important to you at this moment?" And when we do take the time to listen, to let the Holy Spirit work within our hearts, then we always hear Jesus' words: "Feed my sheep!" Then we are called to action.
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