Daily Reflection – 5/22/2026
Sacred Scripture
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he 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.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he 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.”( John 21:15-19)
Reflection
There’s something very human about this moment.
Jesus turns to Peter… not with a lecture, not with a reminder of what he’s done wrong, but with a simple question:
“Do you love me?”
And He asks it more than once. At first, it feels almost uncomfortable. Why ask again? Why repeat it? But maybe it isn’t about the words.
Maybe it’s about bringing Peter…and us…face to face with something we often assume. Because most of the time, we don’t actually say it. We think it.
We suppose Jesus already knows. And He does. But still… He asks. Not just once in a lifetime.
He asks us in quiet moments. In decisions we’re about to make. In those times when something inside us hesitates And maybe what we’re hearing, whether we realize it or not, is: “Do you love me?”
It’s not a test. It’s an invitation. A moment to remember who we are and who we belong to. And the answer… it’s not just words. Because loving Him was always meant to show itself somewhere. In how we speak. In how we act. In how we treat one another.
We know what He asks of us.
To love God. To love others. Simple to say. Much harder to live.
Because every time we let impatience take over…
every time we judge…
every time we move away from love, even in small ways… we feel the distance.
And still, He doesn’t walk away. He asks again. “Do you love me?”
It’s almost as if He’s giving us the chance to start again. Not in perfection. But in honesty. And maybe that’s what this moment with Peter is about. Not proving love…
but choosing it.
Again. And again.
Because Peter wasn’t perfect. He faltered. He stepped back. He returned to what was familiar/ And still… Jesus came to him.
Which means something for us.
We don’t have to have everything together. We don’t have to answer perfectly. We just have to be willing to answer. And to take the next step.
Not alone. But with Him.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord, you keep asking us the simplest question… and sometimes the hardest one. Help me to answer you honestly. Not just with words, but with my life. When I drift, call me back gently. When I hesitate, remind me that you’re still there. Teach me to love you more fully, and to let that love show in the way I live each day. Amen.”
Daily Note
We don’t always say it out loud. But love is meant to be lived. And each day…
in quiet ways… we’re given the chance to answer again: “Lord, you know that I love you.”
