John 21:15-17
15 So 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." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."
16 He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my sheep."
17 He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: do you love me? And he said to him: Lord, you know all things: you know that I love you. He said to him: Feed my sheep.
Jesus was sad when He saw the crowds, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. "I am the bread of life that has come from Heaven" He said to the apostles. Then on the Last Supper He instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist by which He became the living bread to feed His sheep. He commanded the Apostles to do that in memory of Him.
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter and asked him three times if he loved him. Peter said, of course Lord, you know that I love you. The Lord responded, take care of my sheep, feed my sheep.
The Lord was re-stating His command to consecrate the bread and the wine in order to make it His own flesh and blood which is the food of the sheep of Christ. At the same time Jesus was re-stating His command to Peter to take the keys of the Kingdom and look after the Church in which Christ is the head and we are the members.
The body of Christ is alive in the blood of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It is the Church Jesus founded on Peter the Rock, It is the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church whose Vicar is the Holy Father, the popepapa, the Bishop of Rome.
The Holy Father was very faithful to the commandment of Christ. As a sign of his commitment to the Holy Eucharist, he died on the year which he promulgated to be The Eucharistic Year from October 2004 to October 2005.
The sheep receive nourishment from the Word of God and from the Holy Eucharist. The call of Christ echoes in the heart of every priest : Feed my sheep…
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SYNODUS EPISCOPORUM BULLETIN
of the Commission for information of the X ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
30 September-27 October 2001 |
