"DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE?"

FOLLOWING HIS resurrection from the dead, Jesus appears by the shore of Galilee where he cooks breakfast for his apostles. Thereafter, Our Lord probes Peter three times by asking with reference to the other apostles, "Do you love me more than these?" Upset, Peter cries out, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!"

JESUS INSTRUCTS Peter to work: "Feed my sheep." He directs him to sacrifice: "You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." This prophecy foretells Peters martyrdom. [Jn 21:15-19]

OUR LORD directs this message to every person in the Church. All must work to feed the flock. To be a friend of Christ is to shepherd in his name. [Jn 15:13-16] All must sacrifice to feed the flock. For love without sacrifice is dead.

WHAT THEN are the "green pastures" and "still waters" of which King David sang, but the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? [cf. Psa 23:1-2] To worship the Blessed Trinity on the Lords Day is to consummate your Christian work and sacrifice in Jesus name. In the liturgy, the Lord's people are received by God as his sheep and shepherds. Here the Good Shepherd feeds his lambs with his Holy Body and quenches them with his Precious Blood. [Jn 6:32-25]

EVER IN our hearts echoes the voice of Jesus: Do you love me more than these? And to what in this generation could be Our Lord be referring? Consider, then, the substantial impact of these consistent habits which harm the work of the Shepherd and deny the sacrifice which keeps true Love alive:

--consistently showing up late to Our Lord’s Holy Mass or running away from Him at the first opportunity
--socializing and making casual conversation inside the worship area
--meandering in and out of the celebration of Mass as if it were a mere spectator event, especially during the prayers of consecration, even the Our Father and Holy Communion!
--paying attention to other parishioners while approaching the Ministers of Holy Communion and the Lord Jesus Christ
--consuming the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord while chewing gum and candy
--forsaking the communal gestures of reverence in the Church such as genuflection and making the sign of the cross
--neglecting to offer a prayer of thanksgiving to Christ after receiving Holy Communion
--failing to govern the behavior of children in the cry room and littering the cry room floor with pantry food

ST. PAUL teaches that "all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". [2Tim 3:16] This was not intended by the apostle to boost his own ego. Indeed, your priests must have no other intention but that of prayerful service and perfecting their own personal example.

DOUBTLESS MANY priests and lay faithful consistently shun the mention of these things to avoid any possibility of being misunderstood. But St. Paul, on behalf of the Church’s shepherds in every generation, writes that the purpose of reproof, correction, and training in righteousness is so "...that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work".  [cf. 2Tim 3:17]

TO THE Lord's question--"Do you love me more than these?"--what can the true disciple answer but a resounding YES? Then humbly feed one another in the Mass by your most excellent conduct. Examine yourselves, and humbly perfect your habits of reverence and prayerful celebration.

LET NOT the discretionary behavior of any person impoverish the Mass! [cf. 1Cor 11:23-32] Finally, let us encourage one another in Christ with this message of St. Augustine: "We ourselves are the house of God. In this life we are built up to be the house of God in order to be consecrated as the house of God at the end of life. It takes much effort to build the house, but its consecration brings joy and jubilation." [Sermon 136, 1]