Friday of the 7th week of Easter, Saint Norbert, Bishop, June 6, 2025
Acts 25: 13b-21; Ps 103-1-2, 11-12, 19-20; Jn 21:15-19
A group of men were sitting around talking about their lives in Christ a while back. 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’s 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. Norbert, Bishop, whose feast day is today, also took a different path with his spiritual life. After becoming a sub-deacon, he declined to take on higher roles. But, after hearing a divine announcement, basically a word from God, and narrowly avoiding death, he had a complete conversion of heart. He went on to be ordained and became a monk. Persecution followed him as he tried to preach, and eventually, he took to preaching in Northern France, where he earned a reputation for eloquence and miracles. Along with 13 of his followers, he established the order of Premonstratensians in 1120. Today, they number around 1,125 members. He died from exhaustion around 1132 and was canonized by Pope Gregory in 1582.
In our first reading today, 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 Paul to do good. Here is Paul, imprisoned falsely, and he still preaches the truth, that Jesus is the risen Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus is challenging Peter to a deeper sense of love. Not that He believed Peter didn’t love Him, but to get Peter to understand the deep relationship Jesus wants to have with everyone. Jesus is getting 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 Peter to lead. To guide Peter on 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 is 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 not to think about God, but you know what? God is always thinking about us. It does not matter if we are not right there in the moment. It is during these hard times that we rely on our faith to carry us through. We reach deep down into our own psyche like Jesus did with Paul, Peter, and St. Norbert 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 