The first part of this reflection is paraphrased from a reflection on today’s Gospel from John 21:1-19 from the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, usccb.org, by Fr. Greg Friedman, OFM. In the reflection it is noted that in the discourse between Jesus and Simon Peter, Jesus refers to Peter by his old name when He asks, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Now we know that Jesus continues asking three times, responding to Simon Peter’s frustration by calmly saying respectively, “Feed my lambs”, “Tend my sheep” and “Feed my sheep”. The suggestion made here in the use of Simon Peter’s old name is that he had “lost his identity as Peter, the rock” when he denied Jesus three times. Through this discourse, “Peter must now replace his three-fold denial with three assertions of Love for Jesus.” (Click here for Reflection)

   This reflection brings to mind the question of how often we too have denied Jesus. It is likely that we don’t even realize when we are doing it though there are times we certainly do, making the matter much more grave. We must make every effort, through constant prayer, to withstand the temptations that cause these denials. We must also keep in mind our failures to do so in order to ask our Lord for His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As we pray for strength to endure, let us also make note that the things that tempt us into denials are often not the things we think of as temptations; they are often as simple as inconvenience or comfort.

   Just as Simon Peter said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you”, his affirmation of Love for the Lord was not a revelation to Jesus so much as it was an affirmation to himself. Let us also affirm our Love of our Lord to ourselves. May God bless you all this week!