Do you love me? …. more than these
Brothers and Sisters,
The question “do you love me?” is probably the most asked question of all time. Even if we don’t ask this question verbally, I’m sure that most of us think about it all the time. In this week’s Gospel, we find Jesus asking Peter this very question not once, but three times. Although it seems that Peter gets very frustrated with Jesus for repeating the same question three times, it is a wonderful expression of Jesus’ linguistic mastery. In commissioning Peter to be the head of his Church, Jesus uses the oratory art of repetition to emphasise the importance of what he is asking Peter. What makes the question more powerful is the addition of “more than these.” Jesus is giving us a formula if you like of his expectation of us. Through Peter, he is asking us if we love him more than everything else in our lives; ourselves, spouses, parents, children, friends, relatives, careers, possessions, our pride, etc. If our answer is yes, then we too are also commissioned to “tend” and “feed” his flock.
This reminds me of a famous colloquial Lebanese expression which we often say to our loved ones, “Toukbourni.” Literally, it means “bury me”, however the expression rather means “I love you to death.” We use this term often, however do we really understand its value or know what it truly means? To love someone to death is to love in the same way that our Lord loves us, because he loved us so much that he physically died for us. Are we prepared to do the same for those that we love? To love someone involves wanting to be with them night and day. It means that you just can’t get enough of them. You think and talk about them constantly. Your whole world revolves around them. You will do anything for them even if it means compromising yourself. You don’t want to displease or disappoint them. You are moved to tears when you think about them and especially when you feel that they have hurt you. To love someone means that you would put your own feelings, your own pride, your own word and even your own dignity to the side. To love someone means that you would die to yourself for them.
Therefore, in order to love Jesus “more than these” we must first learn to love those that are around us “more than these.” In Amoris Laetitia, the Pope introduces a new way of doing this. It is an attitude of accompaniment and discernment. I will be speaking more about this in this corner in the coming weeks.
On a parish note, we had a very busy week last week with the Teens camp, Fersen Fete and English Faith Formation talk on Pornography. Thank you to all our wonderful committees who work extremely hard to ensure that our parish continues to be a hub of faith and love which always responds to our Lord’s call to follow him and only him. \
