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/ 

Learning Life and Love

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles, invite us to consider the indications that we are learning and living love in our relationships with the people we encounter daily.

Learning Love

The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians centers the Gospel Teaching in the Life of Christ.

* [15:1–11] Paul recalls the tradition (1 Cor 15:3–7), which he can presuppose as common ground and which provides a starting point for his argument. This is the fundamental content of all Christian preaching and belief (1 Cor 15:1–2, 11).

* [15:3–7] The language by which Paul expresses the essence of the “gospel” (1 Cor 15:1) is not his own but is drawn from older credal formulas. This credo highlights Jesus’ death for our sins (confirmed by his burial) and Jesus’ resurrection (confirmed by his appearances) and presents both of them as fulfillment of prophecy. In accordance with the scriptures: conformity of Jesus’ passion with the scriptures is asserted in Mt 16:1; Lk 24:25–27, 32, 44–46. Application of some Old Testament texts (Ps 2:7; 16:8–11) to his resurrection is illustrated by Acts 2:27–31; 13:29–39; and Is 52:13–53:12 and Hos 6:2 may also have been envisaged.

* [15:9–11] A persecutor may have appeared disqualified (ouk…hikanos) from apostleship, but in fact God’s grace has qualified him. Cf. the remarks in 2 Corinthians about his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16; 3:5) and his greater labors (2 Cor 11:23). These verses are parenthetical, but a nerve has been touched (the references to his abnormal birth and his activity as a persecutor may echo taunts from Paul’s opponents), and he is instinctively moved to self-defense. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 19 bespeaks the power and wisdom of the Creator.

* [Psalm 19] The heavenly elements of the world, now beautifully arranged, bespeak the power and wisdom of their creator (Ps 19:2–7). The creator’s wisdom is available to human beings in the law (Ps 19:8–11), toward which the psalmist prays to be open (Ps 19:12–14). The themes of light and speech unify the poem.

* [19:4] No speech, no words: the regular functioning of the heavens and the alternation of day and night inform human beings without words of the creator’s power and wisdom. (Psalms, PSALM 19 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, the Last Supper Discourses proclaim the Father as revealed in the works and person of Jesus.

* [14:6] The truth: in John, the divinely revealed reality of the Father manifested in the person and works of Jesus. The possession of truth confers knowledge and liberation from sin (Jn 8:32).

* [14:7] An alternative reading, “If you knew me, then you would have known my Father also,” would be a rebuke, as in Jn 8:19.

* [14:8] Show us the Father: Philip is pictured asking for a theophany like Ex 24:9–10; 33:18. (John, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB, n.d.)

Suzanne Braddock comments that so much truth lies in the readings for this feast, truth that could be used as a perfect summary of all Christian teaching.

What is our relationship to this Christ, this resurrected Jesus? Is he someone “out there”, someone we look up to in the  sky in hopes of having our prayers heard? Or is he as close as the air we breathe? The neighbor in need? The migrant, the suffering. The beggar on the street.

“And whatever you ask in my name, I will do.”

“I am The Way and the Truth and the Life.”

Let us pray for the Holy Father and fullness of grace as we elect a successor to Peter and Francis. (Braddock, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “All nature serves for our instruction,” by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.

"All nature serves the Word of God for our instruction. Through all the turning points of the year, as if through the four Gospels, we learn from the unceasing trumpet both what we should preach and what we should do... What is there through which the truth does not speak to us? Its voice is heard in the day, it is heard in the night, and the beauty of all things, established by the work of one God, does not cease to put into the ears of our hearts a ruling order, to let us see the 'invisible things of God through those which have been made intelligible to us,' and it is subject not to the creatures but to the Creator of all things." (excerpt from Sermon 19,2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 comments that along with the other apostles, Philip and James devoted themselves to passing on what they had witnessed firsthand and what the Holy Spirit had written on their hearts: Jesus’ teaching, his miracles, the power of his love, and, ultimately, his death and resurrection. And that’s what they gave to Paul and members of the Church’s next generation.

The “backstories” of apostles like Philip and James may be lesser known, but their legacy—the gospel message, the Scriptures, the Church, the very faith that you profess—is far from obscure. And thank God for that!

“Jesus, thank you for setting us on the foundation of Philip and James—and all the other apostles!” (Meditation on 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler identifies the kerygma in the letter to the Corinthians and how it resonates with the Songs of the Suffering Servant, Micah, and Jonah. Paul was very gutsy in proclaiming the revelation of Jesus' Resurrection was witnessed by 500 people. Friar Jude notes that Jesus' relationship with the Father is the model of our understanding of God as a loving parent who gives what we truly need.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares a practice from his years of leading retreats in wilderness settings.

Beholding happens when we stop trying to “hold” and allow ourselves to “be held” by the other. We are completely enchanted by something outside and beyond ourselves. Maybe we should speak of “behelding” because, in that moment, we are being held more than really holding, explaining, or understanding anything by ourselves. We feel ourselves being addressed more than addressing something else. This radically changes our situation and perspective.  

I invite you to “behold” some things! We will seldom be disappointed. Look at a tree, for example, until you see it in its “absolute truth” as one instance of the eternal self-emptying of God into creation. When we behold the tree in this way, we move beyond its mere “relative truth” as either a beech or an elm, big or small, useful or useless, healthy or dying, ours or not ours, hardwood or soft wood, etc. We are allowing the tree to reveal its inherent dignity, as it is, without our interference. It becomes an epiphany and the walls of our world begin to expand. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the gratitude we have for the relationship we have with those close to us and request the help of the Spirit to maintain and strengthen the Love that sustains Life.

References

Braddock, S. (2025, May 3). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/050325.html 

John, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/14?6 

Meditation on 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/05/03/1266455/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/15?1 

Psalms, PSALM 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/19?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Nature Through New Eyes: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/nature-through-new-eyes-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Lord, Show Us the Father. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=may3a