“Do you love me? Follow me.”

In our Gospel Reading from John, it seems like the disciples have finally gotten out of the locked room and back to normal, which is a good thing. Especially after the drama and the trauma of the crucifixion and the joy but uncertainty of the resurrection, doing something normal probably feels good. Going fishing is a thing they used to do before their life of discipleship, and so they do this ordinary thing. However, their lives are not the same as they used to be before they knew Jesus, and this ordinary thing soon becomes extraordinary with their abundant catch. They have breakfast with Christ after finally recognizing him, and I wonder if that kind of feels like old times too. And yet, it’s not like old times because everything is different, and Jesus is different, and they’re different too. No matter how much they might want to be in the familiar and comfortable, that’s just not where their lives are headed. The passage ends with a kind of sending forth. Christ asks Peter three times if he loves him, and then tells him, “Follow me.”

Peter and the other disciples do continue to follow Christ, and they step into the leadership of this community. We know the stories of those early days. The community keeps growing with seeming ease, and Peter appears to be confident, and that confidence makes it seem like he knows what he’s doing. However, it’s Peter. He’s all passion, all impulse, and not much discernment. He’s a very unfiltered kind of guy, even in this passage when he throws on clothes and jumps into the water to swim to shore. Who does that? Especially an experienced fisher? So, we have no reason to assume he knows what he’s doing.

The reality is that Peter and the other disciples probably have no idea what they’re doing. They know they love Jesus, though, and since he was raised from the dead, they’re growing in awareness of who he is as the risen Christ. They still follow him, but not like before. Now Peter will to have to discern and listen and move forward as a disciple and a leader in whatever ways God calls him. He’s going to have to figure that out even in a time of great uncertainty. And, he does.

This Sunday, May 4th, my community celebrates the feast of our founder, Blessed Jean Martin Moyë, a French priest who lived in the 1700s. For some reason, it’s easy for me to think that he and our first Sisters knew what they were doing too. I wonder if you who are members of communities feel that way about your founders and first members too. We know the stories of the early days, and as we’ve told them over time, we know what’s going to happen. But they didn’t know what was going to happen. Our founder sent a small group of women out into the country to serve the poor. He sent them alone and with nothing. When we tell the stories, it sounds so idyllic and wonderful, but those young women had no idea what they were walking into, and if I really stop to think about it, it’s astonishing that they said yes to that. Astonishing. And they did it without thinking of what would happen next. They weren’t intending to start a movement or an instituation; they were simply serving the people in front of them. The same is true for the apostles whom Jesus called, as well as all the people who came after them, never having met Jesus in the flesh, but following the risen Christ. That’s kind of astonishing too, if you think about it. The earliest converts followed God’s call freely and unencumbered by expectations or history or structure or institution. They just moved out in love and service, holding onto their trust in God. And God provided.

And maybe God is offering us a helpful invitation to stop and resonate with these first people of our faith, our foundational leaders who began what is now our legacy, those who set our charism, our life, into motion. They didn’t set out to set our lives into motion. They simply followed God’s call, and God grew the movement.

That said, maybe our founders, in our communities and in our Christian faith, were free in a different way than we are now as followers of Christ. We have a lot of establishment, and that can feel comfortable. However, I’m not sure that our lives as disciples are meant to be comfortable. Yes, we can draw near each other and do the things that bring us joy and comfort, like Peter and the disciples and their post-resurrection fishing expedition. But we can’t stay there on the shore eating grilled fish when God is still calling us to venture out into the unknown. No matter how much we might want to be in the familiar and comfortable, that’s not where our lives are headed either.

At this point, it’s unlikely that we are going to just wander off into the country to see what happens, or begin a practice of street preaching and miracle healings, like Peter and the others. That’s not our call now. Nor is our call to lean into the familiarity of our structures and become complacent; we trust God, not institutions. Our call is to continue to read the signs of the times and notice the needs of the world and to respond in love and service. God turns our ordinary into the extraordinary too, but it probably won’t be through some grand gesture on our part. Mostly God doesn’t call people to grand gestures, but rather normal things, like fishing, and then makes those ordinary things extraordinary. However, God does call us to love even when it’s uncomfortable. Are there personal risks we can take, ways that we could reach out? Can we learn about something or someone that moves us away from what is familiar and comfortable and into something new? Can we challenge or disrupt injustice, even in some small way? Can we reach out to someone who is often excluded or, at least, can we hold them in love and prayer, so that no one is forgotten and everyone is thought of and cared for?

Our times are uncertain and institutions are deconstructing, and we don’t know what’s going to happen, but that’s true of the early Church too. God has called us into mission, each of us. And no matter where we are in our lives, God is still calling. Christ is still saying to each one of us every day:

Do you love me? Feed my lambs.

Do you love me? Tend my sheep.

Do you love me? Feed my sheep.

Follow me.

How are you answering that call with your life?

If you would like to hear an audio version of the reflection, click here: https://www.godspacecommunity.com/providencepodcast/2025/5/1/do-you-love-me-follow-me-providence-podcast-episode (It’s not exactly the same, but it’s close.) Listen and subscribe to the Providence Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get podcasts!

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She enjoys music, dancing, meaningful conversations, and Easter candy.