John 21: 20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Stay Focused on the Mission
In this closing scene of John’s Gospel, Peter is following Jesus (literally) when he turns to see John, the Beloved Disciple, following along behind. Peter asks Jesus about John’s fate. If you can imagine the scene you might see Jesus spin around to level at Peter a soul penetrating look and a rebuke: “what is that to you?” The rebuke comes off as harsh, but Jesus is making an essential point; Peter, as the leader of the nascent Church, must stay focused on the mission which means following Jesus—without worry or distraction—into the Kingdom of God. Jesus hammers home the point by commanding even more forcefully, “Follow me!”
Jesus levels this same penetrating look and emphatic command at you and me. “Stay focused on the coming of the Kingdom, the pearl of great price, and follow me!” But how do we do this? We do this with the help of God’s grace, grace that is the result of prayer, prayer that springs from our loving desire to do what Jesus commands.
In the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius instructs us to begin each prayer session by asking for “an intimate knowledge of our Lord, . . . that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.” (SE 104, Puhl translation). Can you pray today for the grace to know Jesus more intimately, love him more dearly, and follow him more closely so as to live into a world made new by Divine love?
—Bill Lipscomb is a spiritual director with the Ignatian Spirituality Center and the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bill is a graduate of the Seminars in Ignatian Formation program of the Midwest Jesuits. Bill serves as a board member for the Ignatian Spirituality Project and as a spiritual reflector for the Ignatian Volunteer Corps.
Prayer
Jesus, teacher and friend, help us today to keep our eyes and hearts on you even as the world consumes our time and attention with a thousand temptations to compete and compare, criticize and judge, and worry and regret. Help us today and every day to follow along with Peter and John in your way of love into the Kingdom of God. Amen.
—Bill Lipscomb