For the Third Sunday of Easter…
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:17-19
No one knows the day or the hour when we will die. But the Lord does.
This weekend finds us still in the Easter Season, but also still praying for and considering the death of Pope Francis. For we are amid the Novemdiales—the ancient tradition of holding nine consecutive days of mourning, marked by Eucharistic celebrations held for the late Pope. Francis did not know exactly when he would die, though it likely crossed his mind, as his acute illness lingered on for weeks. He rallied some as Holy Week approached and even participated in major celebrations as his health allowed. Then death seemed to come quickly, almost unexpectedly to distant observers, during one of the holiest weeks of the year. That itself is a kind of grace. Today, we continue remember him, and we pray for him.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear Jesus making a prediction about the later life, and eventual death of St. Peter. He was known to be crucified some thirty-plus years later after this conversation with Jesus. Some historians record Peter requesting to be crucified upside down, suggesting he was not worthy to follow Jesus in that exactitude.
And in some ways, this Gospel may be a prediction for every Christian. This notion that our lives are opportunities to bring glory to God, and this even includes our deaths. Some of us may face places we “do not wish to go”… it might be a lingering illness or a sudden death. Some of us may face isolation or persecution or other crosses as we approach our mortal ends. But like Peter, and Francis, and those who have passed on the faith to us long before they met their own ends… let us be steadfast and pray that in both our lives, and deaths, we may follow Jesus. And bring glory to God.
Make me ready, Lord, to live for you until my dying breath.
