Saturday – 7th Week of Easter

Gospel – John 21:20-25

Me!  Me!  Me!

Salads, Jerusalem style!

Two pieces of pie left on the plate, one decidedly bigger than the other.  Two brothers looking at the pie!   What could possibly go wrong?  Mom seizes the moment for a moral lesson. You know, if Jesus was here, He would let his brother choose first.  So the older brother says to the younger one “You be Jesus.” 

None of us really wants to be Jesus, much less follow Him.  It’s too hard.  And you know why – because deep down we are all too human.  We think too much of ourselves.  We envy others.  We are jealous of others.  We are selfish and want only what’s good for ourselves. We think we have to come first.

We see this in today’s Gospel.  Peter basically is asking Jesus – you like him better than me, don’t you?  Jesus’ response – so what, don’t worry about others.  Don’t be jealous.  Don’t be envious!  Focus on following Me!  Focus on all I have taught you.  Love Me and love others.  Live your life for others and not for yourself.

It really isn’t about getting the bigger piece of pie!  It’s about making sure everyone gets a piece of pie.

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