Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
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May 29, 2020This Gospel is so powerful.
It is the essence of what Jesus wants from us, yet how he stoops to our level in order to bring us up to the level of having an intense relationship with Him. In our modern English, there is only one word for love. We use it to describe everything we like. We say that we love, food, events, objects, and our relationship with people.
Two words particularly are used in today's Gospel.
The Greek word Filio, which is a brotherly love, and a friendship love.
Agape, which is a total self-giving love, the love of how Jesus came to give us all of Himself and asks us to give of ourselves to others.
As we think about that, let's look at the conversation in the Gospel today. Jesus asks Simon:” Do you agape me?” (Do you love me with a total self-giving love?) Peter responds, “Yes Lord I filio you. “ (Yes Lord I love you in a brotherly way.).
Peter could not respond with agape. Jesus responds by telling him to take care of the sheep, the church. After a few seconds to contemplate his answer, Jesus then asks Simon a second time. Simon do you agape me? Peter says “Yes, Lord, you know that I filio you.” He still cannot say he would give himself fully.
So Jesus now meets Peter at His level during the third time He asks. Jesus asks, “Simon do you filio me. Jesus comes down and stoops to Peter’s level. The Gospel tells us Peter is now distressed. Why? It is because he saw the humility of Jesus, the Lord, stooping to his level by changing agape to filio. Then Jesus follows it up by telling them all especially Peter, that they have to mature.
When they were young they were selfish, but as they mature they need to become selfless, And he foretells the type of selfless death Peter will die. Peter grew into agape love.
Jesus asks us constantly, Do you agape me? How do we respond? With filio? Or agape?
