Behold Love in Action

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to react to the events of our life with a desire and action for good even as we aspire to perfect love.

Act in Love

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents Paul before King Agrippa.

* [25:13] King Agrippa and Bernice: brother and sister, children of Herod Agrippa I whose activities against the Jerusalem community are mentioned in Acts 12:1–19. Agrippa II was a petty ruler over small areas in northern Palestine and some villages in Perea. His influence on the Jewish population of Palestine was insignificant. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 25 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 103 proclaims even sin cannot destroy God’s mercy.

* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22). (Psalms, PSALM 103 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents the relationship between Jesus and Peter.

* [21:15–23] This section constitutes Peter’s rehabilitation and emphasizes his role in the church.

* [21:15–17] In these three verses there is a remarkable variety of synonyms: two different Greek verbs for love (see note on Jn 15:13); two verbs for feed/tend; two nouns for sheep; two verbs for know. But apparently there is no difference of meaning. The threefold confession of Peter is meant to counteract his earlier threefold denial (Jn 18:17, 25, 27). The First Vatican Council cited these verses in defining that Jesus after his resurrection gave Peter the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over the whole flock.

* [21:15] More than these: probably “more than these disciples do” rather than “more than you love them” or “more than you love these things [fishing, etc.].”

* [21:18] Originally probably a proverb about old age, now used as a figurative reference to the crucifixion of Peter. (John, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

Cindy Murphy McMahon imagines Luke, like any good journalist or historian, went back to sources to get more details and to confirm facts or correct misinformation. The details he captured are rich and lively, and we owe him a great debt of gratitude.

Let us thank God for St. Luke and all the writers of the New Testament, and pray for their intercession.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for the gifts you endowed upon St. Luke and all those who did their best to write testimonies concerning Jesus and his teachings. Thank you for their dedication and courage. St. Luke, and all writers of what became the New Testament, please pray for our writers, editors, historians, and theologians today, that they may seek, find, and share what is true and divinely inspired. (Murphy McMahon, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Do you love me? Feed my sheep,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Christ rose again in the flesh, and Peter rose in the spirit because, when Christ died in his passion, Peter died by his denial. Christ the Lord was raised from the dead, and out of his love he raised Peter. He questioned him about the love he was confessing and entrusted him with his sheep. After all, what benefit could Peter confer on Christ by the mere fact of his loving Christ? If Christ loves you, it is to your advantage, not Christ's. And if you love Christ, it is to your advantage, not Christ's. And yet Christ the Lord wanted to indicate how people ought to show that they love Christ. And he made it plain enough by entrusting him with his sheep. 'Do you love me?' 'I do.' 'Feed my sheep.' All this once, all this a second time, all this a third time. Peter made no other reply than that he loved him. The Lord asked no other question but whether he loved him. When Peter answered, our Lord did nothing else but entrust his sheep to him." (excerpt from SERMON 229n.1.4)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 21:15-19 comments that we tend to love mostly good things: our families, the beauty of this created world, the work we do, the ways we have contributed to our communities. But as good as these loves may be, they will not satisfy us. We will always be looking for more. The truth is, we are created to be in a relationship with Jesus. Only he can fill our deepest longing, and loving him puts everything else in its rightful order.

Do you love Jesus more than “these”? He is worthy of your full yes! So let him do for you what he did for Peter. Let him gently reveal your attachments and invite you to surrender them to him. Right now, imagine Jesus standing before you with his loving searching gaze fixed on your heart. How can you reprioritize your other “loves”? What comes to mind? Look into his eyes and surrender it to him.

“Jesus, you know everything. You know that I love you.” (Meditation on John 21:15-19, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments in the Acts of the Apostles we hear royalty discussing with Festus, the Governor, about Paul who had been arrested by Felix, a ruler who sought bribes, a few years prior. The crimes of Paul are expressed as simply religious disagreements about the life and death of Jesus. Paul, a Roman citizen, appealed to go to Rome avoiding likely assassination on the way to Jerusalem. In the Gospel of John, the disciples encounter Jesus after a miracle catch of fish. There are three words for love in Greek. Jesus asks if Peter loves Him twice using “agape” or sacrificial love. Peter responds twice using “phileo”: “You are my buddy”. The third time, Jesus asks using “phileo”, “Are you my buddy?”  Peter responds “I am” In the dialogue Jesus asks Peter to ”feed my lambs and sheep”. Friar Jude comments on the need for authority, an unusual part of the Gospel of John, where we encounter the Beloved Disciple and the ability of Peter to exercise the authority needed to guide the community. Peter would glorify God by martyrdom in Rome. 

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, views each moment as an opportunity to practice contemplation, to see things as they are, and to receive the gift of divine presence. He introduces spiritual writer Amy Frykholm who acknowledges that while contemplation may sound simple, the practice of “beholding” anything takes desire and discipline.

If we are able to get ourselves situated for beholding, we will notice the next difficulty arising: We are constantly being taken out of presence by our own thoughts…. Any act of attention is not a sustained experiencing. It’s a series of successive efforts to bring attention back to the same thing, considering it again and again. This kind of encounter is a series of repeated acts of will. We gradually train our attention to encounter, discovering its fruits in slow and subtle movements over time. Whatever you behold, you eventually become beholden to. You enter into a love relation. You recognize your own dependence on the created world, the way that you are held, even as you are holding.

And sometimes grace carries us away, and we glimpse, maybe even for several seconds at a time, the whole interconnected, openhearted world … welcomes us. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit to seize the opportunity to contemplate our responses to events and avoid sacrificing the “good” in search of “the perfect”.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 25 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/25? 

John, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/21? 

Meditation on John 21:15-19. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/05/22/1574152/ 

Murphy McMahon, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-may-22-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 103 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Beholding God Everywhere. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/beholding-god-everywhere/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Love Jesus More Than These? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 22, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Chosen for Love and Hope

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, in communities who will celebrate the Ascension on Sunday May 17, share the essential action of the Spirit in the growth of the Mission of the Church.

Chosen for Mission

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Choice of Judas’s Successor.

* [1:1–26] This introductory material (Acts 1:1–2) connects Acts with the Gospel of Luke, shows that the apostles were instructed by the risen Jesus (Acts 1:3–5), points out that the parousia or second coming in glory of Jesus will occur as certainly as his ascension occurred (Acts 1:6–11), and lists the members of the Twelve, stressing their role as a body of divinely mandated witnesses to his life, teaching, and resurrection (Acts 1:12–26).

* [1:26] The need to replace Judas was probably dictated by the symbolism of the number twelve, recalling the twelve tribes of Israel. This symbolism also indicates that for Luke (see Lk 22:30) the Christian church is a reconstituted Israel. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 113 is a hymn exhorting the congregation to praise God’s name.

* [Psalm 113] A hymn exhorting the congregation to praise God’s name, i.e., the way in which God is present in the world; the name is mentioned three times in Ps 113:1–3. The divine name is especially honored in the Temple (Ps 113:1) but its recognition is not limited by time (Ps 113:2) and space (Ps 113:3), for God is everywhere active (Ps 113:4–5) especially in rescuing the lowly faithful (Ps 113:7–9). (Psalms, PSALM 113 | USCCB, n.d.)

The passage from the Gospel of John resembles a parable where Israel is spoken of as a vineyard and love is described in terms of Greek words “agapaō and phileō”.

* [15:1–17] Like Jn 10:1–5, this passage resembles a parable. Israel is spoken of as a vineyard at Is 5:1–7; Mt 21:33–46 and as a vine at Ps 80:9–17; Jer 2:21; Ez 15:2; 17:5–10; 19:10; Hos 10:1. The identification of the vine as the Son of Man in Ps 80:15 and Wisdom’s description of herself as a vine in Sir 24:17 are further background for portrayal of Jesus by this figure. There may be secondary eucharistic symbolism here; cf. Mk 14:25, “the fruit of the vine.”

* [15:2] Takes away, prunes: in Greek there is a play on two related verbs.

* [15:6] Branches were cut off and dried on the wall of the vineyard for later use as fuel.

* [15:13] For one’s friends: or: “those whom one loves.” In Jn 15:9–13a, the words for love are related to the Greek agapaō. In Jn 15:13b–15, the words for love are related to the Greek phileō. For John, the two roots seem synonymous and mean “to love”; cf. also Jn 21:15–17. The word philos is used here.

* [15:15] Slaves,friends: in the Old Testament, Moses (Dt 34:5), Joshua (Jos 24:29), and David (Ps 89:21) were called “servants” or “slaves of Yahweh”; only Abraham (Is 41:8; 2 Chr 20:7; cf. Jas 2:23) was called a “friend of God.” (John, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)

A Member of the Creighton University Community asks what does it mean to love our brothers and sisters near and far as God loves.

One way to live agape is through the virtue of solidarity. Solidarity calls us to “an active commitment to our neighbor and demands of us a shared responsibility for all of humanity. This duty is not limited to one’s own family, nation or state, but extends progressively to all…so no one can consider himself or herself extraneous or indifferent to the lot of another member of the human family.” -John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, no. 51

Further explained, “[Solidarity] is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good.” -Sollicitudo rei Socialis, no. 38.

Today is the feast day of Saint Matthias. How do we share in the “luck” of Saint Matthias who joined the apostles after casting lots? If we imagine ourselves in Matthias’ place, our spot opening up to join the apostles, just after Jesus’ crucifixion. What would our ministry be? How would we live our lives? What can we do today to bring our lives more into congruence with our call? (Member of Creighton University Community, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes Jesus ascends to heaven in his body - divine and human nature, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"You heard what came to our ears just now from the Gospel: 'Lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it happened, while he was blessing them he withdrew from them, and was carried up to heaven.' Who was carried up to heaven? The Lord Christ was. Who is the Lord Christ? He is the Lord Jesus. What is this? Are you going to separate the human from the divine and make one person of God, another of the man, so that there is no longer a trinity of three but a quaternary of four? Just as you, a human being, are soul and body, so the Lord Christ is Word, soul and body. The Word did not depart from the Father. He both came to us and did not forsake the Father. He both took flesh in the womb and continued to govern the universe. What was lifted up into heaven, if not what had been taken from earth? That is to say, the very flesh, the very body, about which he was speaking when he said to the disciples, 'Feel, and see that a spirit does not have bones and flesh, as you can see that I have' (Luke 24:39). Let us believe this, brothers and sisters, and if we have difficulty in meeting the arguments of the philosophers, let us hold on to what was demonstrated in the Lord's case without any difficulty of faith. Let them chatter, but let us believe." (excerpt from Sermon 242,6)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 15:9-17 comments that while Matthias had followed Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry, it wasn’t until years later that he received this deeper calling to become one of the Twelve. Clearly, Matthias’ vocation matured over time—to the point that in the end, he gave his life out of love for the One who had first chosen him.

What hope this brings! You may be tempted to think that your life is a matter of chance. Not so: God is too wise and too loving to leave you as a victim of circumstance. Just as he chose Matthias, he has chosen you to follow his Son. He has chosen you to be a disciple in the specific time and place in which you live: as a father or mother, a worker or student—as a disciple who shines the light of Christ into the world. That calling will continue to grow as you follow him, and he will give you all the grace you need to carry it out!

“Thank you, Jesus, for choosing me to be your own!”

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the Acts of the Apostles, the choice of Matthais as the apostle to replace Judas is presented.  They choose someone who has been with them from the beginning. They pray and choose lots as they depend on the Spirit to guide the growth of the Church. This is a continuation of a Hebrew custom of how when the king used the Urim and Thummim, in a sacred ritual to discern the will of God. God would speak through the lots for the new Apostle. In the Gospel of John, during the Last Supper Discourse, Jesus implores His  followers to live a life of virtue and follow the main commandment and give their life for others. This is not a relationship of slaves but one of friends. Friar Jude comments that we live in dignity by loving, as Jesus, all the children of God.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Dr. Gloria Durka who explores Thomas Merton’s love of Julian’s positive theology.

Learning to remain hopeful amidst the darkness of suffering is a struggle in which all of us become engaged from time to time—and it can be a bitter trial. The optimism of Julian can help us as it did Thomas Merton. In his book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Merton wrote the following:

I pray much to have a wise heart, and perhaps the rediscovery of Lady Julian of Norwich will help me. I took her book with me on a quiet walk among the cedars. She is a true theologian…. She first experienced, then thought, and the thoughtful deepening of experience worked it back into her life, deeper and deeper, until her whole life as a recluse at Norwich was simply a matter of getting completely saturated in the light she had received all at once…. Her life was lived in the belief in this “secret,” the “great deed” that the Lord will do on the Last Day, not a deed of destruction and revenge, but of mercy and of life, all partial expectations will be exploded and everything will be made right…. [1]

Julian’s writings are permeated with Christian hope. She experienced all of the aspects of hope in her own spiritual life: the rocklike dependability of God, the God who is always near, the God of the impossible, the God who is Father and Mother to us. (Rohr, n.d.)

We acknowledge the Wisdom of the Spirit in guiding our decisions that we hope to make in contemplation of the experience we have of the Love of God as motivation for our action in support of the people in our environment.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1?15 

John, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/15?9 

Meditation on John 15:9-17. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/05/14/1563865/ 

Member of Creighton University Community. (2026, May 14). Daily Reflection May 14, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-may-14-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 113 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/113?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Essential Joy. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/essential-joy/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Lord Jesus Was Taken up into Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Feed with Love

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine the ideas and beliefs that separate us from living with love and forgiveness modelled by Jesus.

Sharing Bread and Fish

 

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents Paul before King Agrippa.

* [25:13] King Agrippa and Bernice: brother and sister, children of Herod Agrippa I whose activities against the Jerusalem community are mentioned in Acts 12:1–19. Agrippa II was a petty ruler over small areas in northern Palestine and some villages in Perea. His influence on the Jewish population of Palestine was insignificant. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 25, n.d.)

Psalm 103 praises God for personal benefits.

* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22). (Psalms, PSALM 103, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus and Peter reconcile to “Feed His Sheep”.

* [21:15–23] This section constitutes Peter’s rehabilitation and emphasizes his role in the church.

* [21:15–17] In these three verses there is a remarkable variety of synonyms: two different Greek verbs for love (see note on Jn 15:13); two verbs for feed/tend; two nouns for sheep; two verbs for know. But apparently there is no difference of meaning. The threefold confession of Peter is meant to counteract his earlier threefold denial (Jn 18:17, 25, 27). The First Vatican Council cited these verses in defining that Jesus after his resurrection gave Peter the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over the whole flock.

* [21:15] More than these: probably “more than these disciples do” rather than “more than you love them” or “more than you love these things [fishing, etc.].”

* [21:18] Originally probably a proverb about old age, now used as a figurative reference to the crucifixion of Peter. (John, CHAPTER 21, n.d.)

Steve Scholer asks how would each of us answer the question, “Do you love me?” if Jesus asked it of us three times? Surely, we would all respond with a resounding yes, yes, yes! But actions speak louder than words. Do our actions provide the answer Jesus is seeking? 

Demonstrating your love by living your faith is not always an easy undertaking. As Simon Peter showed, one can claim to be faithful but easily fail to live up to the promise. Thankfully, with God, there are second and third chances (and even more if necessary), to be the kind of person and live the type of life Christ asks of us. As we discern what loving Jesus means to each of us, maybe the best way to for us to “lead his sheep” is to never forget the words Jesus shared with his disciples: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (Scholer, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “Do you love me? Feed my sheep”, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Christ rose again in the flesh, and Peter rose in the spirit because, when Christ died in his passion, Peter died by his denial. Christ the Lord was raised from the dead, and out of his love he raised Peter. He questioned him about the love he was confessing and entrusted him with his sheep. After all, what benefit could Peter confer on Christ by the mere fact of his loving Christ? If Christ loves you, it is to your advantage, not Christ's. And if you love Christ, it is to your advantage, not Christ's. And yet Christ the Lord wanted to indicate how people ought to show that they love Christ. And he made it plain enough by entrusting him with his sheep. 'Do you love me?' 'I do.' 'Feed my sheep.' All this once, all this a second time, all this a third time. Peter made no other reply than that he loved him. The Lord asked no other question but whether he loved him. When Peter answered, our Lord did nothing else but entrust his sheep to him." (excerpt from SERMON 229n.1.4) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 21:15-19 comments on “Follow me.” This is a universal invitation, offered to each and every one of us, no matter who we are or what we have done in the past. Jesus doesn’t wait until we love him perfectly. He doesn’t wait for us to be completely free of sin before he calls us. He knows that by putting aside our path and accepting his, we are already beginning to submit to his healing power. And then, every step along the way transforms us a little more.

So follow Jesus today! Let him take your yes, however small it may seem, and bring you into an ever-deepening relationship with him. Trust that he knows the destination far better than you do, and he also knows the best way to get there.

“Jesus, help me to trust in you more deeply. Lord, I want to follow you with all of my life for the rest of my life!” (Meditation on John 21:15-19, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that in the Acts passage Governor Festus is receiving Jewish royalty to whom he explains Paul’s case , a prisoner for two years as no bribes were received by Felix. Festus wanted to send Paul to Jerusalem but he appealed to Caesar as a Roman citizen. Friar Jude notes that in the Gospel scene, after the Resurrection, Jesus questions three times whether Peter loves Him using “agape” twice and settles on “philia” as the love Peter is capable of at the time.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that the first meals Jesus shared with his community included bread and fish, while a meal of bread and wine became the official meal of the church.

It’s unfortunate that we lost the bread and fish ritual meal, because the bread and wine ritual meal didn’t emphasize this idea of surplus: real food that actually fed the poor. The bread and wine tradition lent itself more to purity codes, insider/outsider dynamics, and ritualization. The bread and fish tradition, if retained, might have contributed to issues of justice, community, and social reordering. We see this after the resurrection. In John 21:1–14, the apostles are out on the lake. They see Jesus on the shore, cooking fish at a charcoal fire. He invites them to come share bread and fish.  

If we remember what happened after Jesus’ arrest, we see the significance of this charcoal fire. The only other charcoal fire in the Gospels is where Peter stood when he betrayed Jesus (John 18:18). Jesus invites him now to another charcoal fire, where they share the bread and the fish. He says, in effect, “Peter, it’s okay. Forget it.” At this second charcoal fire the risen Jesus initiates table fellowship with Peter, who just a few days before rejected, betrayed, and abandoned him in his hour of need. It seems the bread and fish meal also had a healing, reconciling significance. What a shame we have lost this. (Rohr, n.d.)

We apply Jesus' question to Peter “Do you love me more than these?” to the distractions in our lives that restrict our love and service as followers of Christ.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 25. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/25?13 

John, CHAPTER 21. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/21?15 

Meditation on John 21:15-19. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/06/06/1299136/ 

Psalms, PSALM 103. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Wine, Bread, and Fish. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/wine-bread-and-fish/ 

Scholer, S. (2025, June 6). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/060625.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Love Jesus More Than These? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=jun6