What is the “THESE” that Jesus is referring to when he asks Simon if he loves him more than these?
You almost miss the important part of the question that begins the threefold affirmation of Peter. You get so caught up in the “Do you love me questions” that you miss the context in which John frames the whole affair. Those threefold affirmations are introduced by a three word modifier, which is so important in understanding the rest of the text: “Do you love me more than these?” Most often, we kind of skip over that question – because it seems like Jesus is just stirring it up, kind of like my family as we press mom about who is her favorite son. (The good news from my last visit – she said it could be any of you four. The bad news – mom has five sons.) Jesus asks Simon: “Do you love me MORE THAN THESE?” Let’s look at that a bit.
Peter’s been out fishing with his disciples – his original occupation. It must have been so familiar – the nets, the creaking of the boats, the muscle memory of thousands of casts and retrievals, the smell of the water, and the sunrise coming over the horizon. Even the lack of a catch was comfortingly familiar. And then, after swimming through the waters – a symbol of the cleansing waters of baptism and after a meal with obvious Eucharistic overtones, Jesus asks the question. “Do you love me more than THESE?” Do you love me more than this familiar life, do you love me more than the ordinary unfolding of a daily routine, do you love me more than THESE kinds of days and activities? Do you love me enough to leave THESE behind? Do you love me enough to let how I want your life to unfold to be the guide? Do you love me enough to be about the ‘WORK OF EASTER’ – that of feeding lambs and tending sheep? Do you love me more than all of this? For if you say yes, then someone else will stretch out your hands and lead you where you do not want to go… That is what it means to be a follower. Fortunately for us, Simon had the courage to say yes. And our world is different for that yes
Do you love me more than these, than the ordinary days and routines that we so blessedly find ourselves in, is the question that our Archdiocese lays before us these next few weeks in the Annual Catholic Appeal. Each year, countless men and women – old and young – are impacted by the fruits of this appeal. We will hear more about this later in this mass, of how much of the appeal goes to support education and people programs and priests – retired and active. This appeal is perhaps the most concrete way you can love Jesus more than these – by feeding and tending and caring for the sheep.
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Jesus was not trying to stir up a sibling rivalry among the disciples over who loved him MORE than the others. Rather, among the ordinary events of your lives –
- the unfolding of grace while folding the laundry,
- commuting in traffic,
- the family dinners with the kids and grandkids,
- the simple joy that comes from walks in the neighborhood
- and the ordinary events that fill up easy our life’s time,
– He askes: Do love me more than these? Do you love me enough to let the broader needs of the diocese tie your hands and your wallet and lead you to a sacrificial gift so that the good news might continue? After mass, this week and the next few, your pledge card will be in the back of church. Please pray over your gift. Your sacrificial pledge, however small or large, will ensure that Newman Centers, Catholic Education, the Seminary and all the crucial, hands-on services that make Jesus’ love so real and concrete to the world, will continue to be there for all who need to be fed and tended and cared for.
“People of St. Justin Martyr parish, do you love me more than these? Then tend my sheep… Amen.”