'Feed my lambs . . . feed my sheep.' Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C

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The Gospel of John (2003) Directed by Philip Saville
Narrator: Christopher Plummer

Gospel John 21:1-19  [or 21:1-14] (NRSV, Catholic Ed., Canada) 

read the full gospel here
[When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the 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.  Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”  (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”]

When I turned 13 I wanted to be a pilot in the Irish Army Air Corps. With three or four classmates in O'Connell Schools, Dublin, run by the (Irish) Christian Brothers, I was enthralled by the exploits of Biggles, a fictitious character created by Captain W. E. Johns. Biggles started his career in the Royal Flying Corps in World War I and was still flying, in the Royal Air Force, during World War II.

When I discovered that you needed some proficiency in physics my interest in being a pilot waned but my desire to be a military officer was still there. But 'coming up from the rear' was a desire to be a missionary priest. By the time I was 14 I knew that that was what I wanted to be.

Servant of God Fr Emil Kapaun
(20 April 1916 - 23 May 1951)

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