Friday of the 7th week of Easter, May 17, 2024
Acts 25: 13b-21; Ps 103-1-2, 11-12, 19-20; Jn 21:15-19
The other day, a group of men were sitting around talking about their life in Christ. It seemed to be a great topic given Pentecost is on Sunday. Often, we forget how we first met the Lord. As we went around the room, each man shared their encounter with Christ. Some had very existential experiences, much like St. Paul being knocked down, and others had a very quiet moment, where they knew God was present. A couple of the guys expressed the idea that they have never felt a “spiritual” experience, yet they still believe that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead. Much like after Thomas’ encounter with the risen Lord where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet still believe.” (Jn 20:29) We realized that everyone has or had their own encounter with the Lord in a unique way. None was better, or worse than the other. But it was what we did with that experience that made a difference. All of us felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, but each of us reacted differently to that presence. We realized that God was moving in a way we could not understand, and all we needed to do was act on the impulse and let God lead.
St. Paul’s imprisonment on the surface would seem like a disastrous event. Yet Paul, who knew the Lord through a personal encounter, let God lead him to places he never thought he would go. In those places, God used St. Paul to do good. Here is St. Paul, imprisoned falsely, and he still preaches the truth, that Jesus is the risen Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus is challenging St. Peter to a deeper sense of love. Not that He believed St. Peter didn’t love Him, but to get him to understand the deep relationship Jesus wants to have with everyone. Jesus is getting St. Paul to dig deep into his own psyche and love others as Jesus wants him to love. It is only after that deep commitment, that Jesus hands His flock over to St. Peter to lead. To give Peter guidance on know how to do that, Jesus simply says, “Follow me”.
Each one of us has or may have had a personal encounter with Jesus. In many cases, we see it clearly, but in other cases we may not have recognized it yet. And that’s ok. There are also times where that encounter can feel thousands of miles away, and that is ok too. Our lives are filled with many ups and downs and sometimes we tend to not think about God, but you know what? God is always thinking about us. It doesn’t matter if we’re not right there in the moment. It’s during these hard times we rely on our faith to carry us through. We reach deep down into our own psyche like Jesus did with Peter and say, Yes Lord, I love you. In the end, that is all that matters. That is the love Jesus wants from us. That is when we answer the call, when Jesus says, “Follow me.”
Saint James Catholic Church 