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Sunday, April 25, 2004

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Third Sunday of Easter


Acts 5:27-32, 40-41
Revelation 5:11-14
Psalm 30
John 21:1-19

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"A third time Jesus asked him, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me?' Peter was hurt because He had asked a third time, 'Do you love Me?' So he said to Him: 'Lord, You know everything. You know well that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.' " —John 21:17

If we love Jesus, we will feed His sheep. We will feed Jesus' followers with physical food (see Mt 25:35) and with the Bread of life, that is, Jesus (Jn 6:35). If we love Jesus, we will feed Christians with Jesus. We do this by sharing God's word (see Mt 4:4) and by inviting others to come to Jesus, join His Church, and receive the body and blood of Jesus (see Jn 6:55).

The night before Jesus died, He fed His sheep at the Last Supper by giving them His body and blood (see Mt 26:26ff). On the afternoon of the day Jesus rose, He fed His sheep by interpreting "for them every passage of Scripture which referred to Him" (Lk 24:27). Then He broke bread for them (Lk 24:30). Later, Jesus fed Peter and six other apostles with a breakfast of bread and fish (Jn 21:9). The risen Jesus revealed Himself to those "who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead" (Acts 10:41).

Before Jesus commanded us to feed His sheep, He showed us how to do this in several multi-dimensional ways. Ultimately, to love Jesus and to feed His sheep requires that we no longer do what we please but do what is against our wills (Jn 21:18). To love is to feed, and to feed is to follow Jesus even to death (Jn 21:19). Will you die to feed His sheep?

Prayer:  Father, I offer my life for the feeding of Your people.

Promise:  "The apostles for their part left the Sanhedrin full of joy that they had been judged worthy of ill-treatment for the sake of the Name." —Acts 5:41

Praise:  "I heard the voices of every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea; everything in the universe cried aloud: 'To the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor, glory and might, forever and ever!' " (Rv 5:13)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, October 9, 2003


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 14, 2003