Gospel
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
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.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. In sharp contrast to the three times Peter denied knowing Jesus.
And he finishes this discourse with “Follow me.”
We too through sin have denied Jesus. That is what sin is. A turning away from Christ and choosing not God in our life.
We who have heard and seen the Good News are still capable of choosing not God. For we are sinners and suffer from the continual fallen nature we were born into.
So each day we must take up our faith again and each day be careful not to fall short of the mark. It requires us to be fully conscious and see all things in the light of Jesus Christ who asks us each day. Do YOU love me?
Do YOU love me more than others around you?
And while we respond with our prayers and profession, Yes, Lord you now I love you, we still must be on guard against the evil who seeds thoughts of sin and malice in our head and hearts.
Our love must extinguish all evil thoughts. We run to the protection of his name and demand our will focus on Jesus alone. We run to the cleansing of the confessional of Jesus and seek to be cleansed again and joined with him again in the Eucharist.
Like St Peter we turn from denying him to professing our love with our life.
Each day growing closer to Him until we can look back and say I am closer to God today than yesterday. And that is our goal.
For we are either growing closer to God or we are falling away.
There is no such thing as a Christian who is only as close to God as he was last year for that is not how love works. Love is a fire than engulfs more of our hearts each day or it begins to die out.
We are called to be on fire with love for Jesus. Today. Right now.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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