Jesus threefold question to Peter today is: "Do you love me" (Jn 21: 15, 16 and 17). This reminds us that not only is God declared in the Scriptures to be love: "for God is love" (1 Jn 4: 8) he is also asking us for love in return. This love response is to be found not in the intellect or the appetites but in the heart. It is relevant that Pope Francis' last significant document was a treatise on the Sacred Heart of Jesus since it reveals the depth of God's love for us. It is also from the heart that we find mercy, as we celebrated last Sunday with Divine Mercy. It is also interesting that Peter feels hurt when the question is asked for the third time (Jn 21: 17). His response is to submit to the Lord and his knowledge: "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." (Jn 21: 17) It is true to say that God knows us even better than we know ourselves and loves us, likewise, more that we can know. St Paul teaches: "Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints for the saints according to the will of God." (Rm 8: 26-27) As we journey towards Pentecost may we progressively open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so that we may be transformed by God's love just as Peter was.
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