3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C
God is love and has shown His love for us by making us in His own image and likeness; by redeeming us through the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; by sending the Holy Spirit to bestow His gifts on us and in the sacraments, liturgies and devotions in the Church. Love is also the greatest commandment and the summary of the Ten Commandments. This clearly shows that Love is central in our lives as Christians and as disciples of Christ.
Today Jesus asks Peter in our gospel reading, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” three times to ascertain if Peter truly and sincerely loves Him. Peter responded three times that he does love Jesus. Jesus’s question to Peter stems from Peter’s denial of Him three times in the chief priest’s courtyard before the cock crowed three times. Jesus also posed this question to Peter to assure him that He (Jesus) truly loves him and will never give up on him. So today, Jesus is asking us the same question, do you really love Me? If someone asked us this question, if we love God, I believe we will all answer ‘yes.’ But do we truly and sincerely love God? We are like Peter sometimes, we say we love God yet deny him many times in our lives. This is why this question poised to Peter and us today is very important for us Catholic Christians. Why is it important? It is important because Love of God should be our deepest yearning as Christians because of God’s love, blessings, graces and mercies upon us. Could you imagine being here today without God’s love for you? Could you imagine achieving everything you have achieved today without the help of God? Could you imagine being who you are today with God’s love in your life? Hence, how can we love God better?
In order to love God better, we are reminded in today’s readings of some great practices to learn and live out as disciples of Christ. These practices are as follows:
BEING HARDWORKING
in our spiritual lives as Christians. Hard-work here involves making a great deal of effort in diligently laboring and putting effort into witnessing and proclaiming Christ in our world today. Peter and the other apostles in today’s first reading (Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41) showed us what hard-work means as they put in a lot of effort and diligently labored to proclaim the resurrected Christ stating, “We must obey God rather than men. Are you working hard or laboring diligently to proclaim Christ in our world today? Are you feeding the lambs (that is your children) and tending God’s sheep (that is everyone you encounter) in the world today?
SACRIFICE
which means to suffer loss of something, give up or renounce something for God’s sake in order to achieve the kingdom of God. Today’s first reading shows us the sacrifices made by the apostles in proclaiming Christ and His gospel in a hostile environment. Today’s second reading (Rev 5:11-14) also reminds us of Jesus’s sacrifices on the cross for our redemption and salvation. What have you sacrificed to be a better Christian today? What are you sacrificing to be able to effectively and efficiently witness to Christ in the world today like the apostles and disciples did in our first reading today?
DEDICATION
which refers to a feeling of very strong support for God or loyalty to Him as our Maker and our Savior in everything we do. Are you truly dedicated and committed to God your Maker, Savior and Redeemer? How have you shown your dedication and commitment to God today in your thoughts, words and actions? My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate our resurrected Christ whose love is everlasting, let us love Him better by working hard in our spiritual lives so as to effectively and efficiently witness to Him in our world today, by sacrificing as He sacrificed Himself to grant us salvation and by totally dedicating our lives to Him, who redeemed us.
