What Jesus and Peter Can Teach the Next Pope

With help from St. Augustine and Joseph Ratzinger on Peter's Confession

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Happy Friday!

This Sunday we celebrate the 3rd Sunday of Easter.

Amidst an inundation of Conclave news (which of course I have dabbled in myself), we will be returning to our normal Friday Gospel Theology Companion today. After all, even when there is no Pope, the mission of the Church continues, the Eucharist is still offered, and the liturgical season carries on.

In this Sunday’s Gospel we have a moving scene from the post-Resurrection accounts which give us particular insights into the nature of shepherds and the Petrine office.

In this Gospel, we hear Christ’s three questions and Peter’s three responses in the “Do you love me?” interrogatories:

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We also will come with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast." And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." Jesus said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" 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."

For our purposes here, we will focus on the last paragraph where we hear the dialogue between Our Lord and Peter.

As we often do, we will put this Gospel in the context of the minds of some of the greats of the Tradition.

Below, we will discover what St. Augustine and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote about this scene in order to give us a deeper understanding of its significance—not only for our own faith, but especially as a context through which to understand the Papacy and the upcoming Conclave.

Sunday Gospel Theology Companion

St. Augustine

In the second to last of his famous Tractates on the Gospel of John, St. Augustine gives a lengthy exposition of this passage from John 21.

First, St. Augustine gives us the overarching lens through which to understand this passage: “To the threefold denial there is now appended a threefold confession, that his tongue may not yield a feebler service to love than to fear, and imminent death may not appear to have elicited more from the lips than present life.”¹ Harkening back to his denial of Christ (cf. Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-27), Peter confirms his confession of love to his now-risen Lord. For every denial, there is a healing confession.