“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (John 21: 15).
Friday 21st May 2021, in the 7th Week of Easter is also the feast of St Christopher Megallanes (1869 - 1927), Priest and his companions martyrs. The Mexican government was very anti-Catholic and anti clerical in the 1920s. It massacred 21 priests and 3 lay men during the Cristeros movement.
Peter denied Jesus three times. After the Resurrection, Jesus met the Apostles on the shores of Lake Tiberius. Jesus offered Peter the opportunity for complete reconciliation. Peter confirmed three times that he loves Jesus dearly. Jesus confirmed Peter's leadership of the Church.
What if Jesus asks us: Do you love me more than your family? Do you love me more than your job, money, country? Consider carefully how you respond to the Lord. Peter was very presumptuous before the Passion of Christ to claim that he loved Jesus more than the rest of the Apostles.
Our love for Jesus may not be perfect. But this love can grow through our openness to receive the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. The highest proof of love is for a man to lay down his life for his friends. This is what our saints of the day did. St Christopher Magallanes and his 21 companion martyrs laid down their lives for their faith in Jesus in Mexico. As Tertulian prophesied: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity."
St Peter and the other Apostles would lay down their lives to prove their love for Christ.
Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com
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