Do you love me?
- DOM MAURO GIUSEPPE LEPORI
Before encountering Jesus, Simon could keep his entire life under control.
Home, family, fishing — it was easy to keep his little world under control. He was obeyed at home, he was a good fisherman — and in spite of everything, the lake was generous — and the hired hands respected him. But now everything had become unmanageable.
Hundreds, thousands of people of every race and language came to ask him for the impossible. The community of disciples continued to grow, and he was responsible for it. There was no more day and night, no regular meals, no time to snooze on the shore of the lake. And yet he felt calm, at peace. He felt inside himself a strength that did not at all eliminate his weakness, but used it.
Everyone was asking him for everything, and Peter responded to everything and to everyone. But he also responded by asking for everything from the Lord Jesus, who gave him his Spirit, the Spirit of the Father. Ever since Jesus had begged for his love — "Do you love me" — Peter lived by begging for his own, begging for everything from him.
For this reason, the immense demands of the mission that Jesus had entrusted to him was not a burden. Everything was embraced in the exchange of love with the Lord, and it was a delight to hear himself called by the Lord in the voice of the poor, the sinners, all of these people in distress. It was a gift to be able to answer the Lord over and over again: "You know that I love you!" in every word he spoke, every action he performed, every step he took. He no longer said, "I will lay down my life for you!" He simply said, "Take me!"
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Acknowledgement
Abbot Mauro-Giuseppi, O.Cist. "Do you love me?" excerpt from Simon, Called Peter: In the Company of a Man in Search of God (Ignatius Press, 2010).
Written originally in Italian, Simon Called Peter has been translated into both French and German. Other works by Lepori include Lamato presente. This excerpt appeared in Magnificat in April 2013.
The Author
Abbot Mauro-Giuseppi, O.Cist. has been Abbot General of the Order of Cistercians since 2010. He was previously the abbot of the Abbey of Hauterive which he entered in 1984. The Cistercian of Hauterive is outside of Fribourg, Switzerland. Abbot Mauro earned a licentiate in philosophy and theology from the Catholic University of Fribourg. The abbot general is a Swiss-Italian born (from Lugano) monk who, before his entrance into the cloister was an active follower of Communion and Liberation. He is the author of Simon, Called Peter: In the Company of a Man in Search of God.
