The question

In today’s Gospel (John 21:15-19), our Lord asks Saint Peter “Do you love me?” three times in a row.

Our Lord’s thrice-repeated question obviously parallels Saint Peter’s thrice-repeated denial.

Three times Saint Peter had denied Christ.

Three times Christ invites Saint Peter to show his love for him.

You and I have sinned, effectively denying Christ as our Lord and Savior – choosing instead the insidious dominion and the false salvation of pleasure, convenience and whim.

We feel the grief of our sins, we repent, and we seek forgiveness.

We need also to listen for the voice of the Lord inviting us to show our love for him.

It is quite unlikely that our Lord will ask us in the way he did in today’s Gospel.

More likely, the Lord will asks us in the opportunities he gives us as we live our lives: when we are presented with the choice to be faithful to him, to his love, and to his truth.

It will be in these unexpected moments that our Lord will be looking at us and asking:

Do you love me?