Readings: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 or 21:1-14 (48)

Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Do you love me . . . ?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

Why did Jesus ask Peter the same question three times? I think he wanted Peter to understand — and he wanted you and me to understand — that it isn’t enough just to say, “I love you.” We must show our love for Jesus by showing our love for one another and caring for one another. Do you love Jesus?

Jesus was not trying to make Saint Peter squirm when after his Resurrection he asked his apostle three times, “Do you love me?” It was less an undoing of Peter’s denial and more a response to Peter’s own need to say the words and to hear himself say what he believed.

In the musical Fiddler on the Roof Tevye asks his wife, “Golda, do you love me?” She answers with a litany of all the chores she does for him and the family, but Tevye keeps asking until she finally admits, “I suppose I do,” and with both of these replies Tevye is satisfied. Words and deeds of love—both are essential. Examine your own words and deeds—do they measure up? Do you really love me?

Dear Jesus, help us to show our love for you by loving and caring for one another.