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."
 
A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."
 
He said to him a third time, "Simon, Son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."     (John 21: 15-17)

     A few years ago my favorite gadfly gave me a book to read entitled Praying Like Jesus: The Lord's Prayer in a Culture of Prosperity, by James Mulholland. I did not have time to read the book and I politely tried to return it but was told by my friend that he was in no rush to get it back and I should just take my time. A year later I tried to return the book again since I had not gotten to it and again I was told to just hold on to the book until I had a chance to read it. Sigh. I finally had to read it if I wanted to get it out of my house.
     What a fascinating book! The book's message is that those of us who are prosperous (the US and Canada make up 6% of the world's population but control 59% of the world's wealth) must make a proper response to our prosperity; not one of indulgence, justification or guilt, but one of compassion. Mulholland makes interesting reference to one theory that Christianity's early success in competing with other contemporary mystery religions was because it actively and financially helped the needy. Mulholland's interpretation of Christ's miraculous feeding of the 5000 is that when Christ took the few loaves of bread and fishes he had and offered them to the crowd, he inspired everyone present to take what food each might have stashed in a sleeve or pocket and offer it to all. There was enough food to feed everyone with much left over. The miracle was Christ's ability, by his own example, to inspire compassionate generosity.
     Today, in a world where 24,000 people (many of them children) die each day from hunger related issues, the church continues to have a role to play in helping to feed God's sheep. Mulholland also points out that in 1998 it was estimated that 13 billion dollars were needed to eliminate starvation in the world. In 1999 the American church spent 6 billion on new buildings. Probably if we follow Jesus' challenge to Peter to show our love for him by feeding his sheep we will find simple solutions to what seem like impossible problems.
     I like Mulholland's practical insistence on the importance of compassion or fellow feeling in our efforts to imitate Christ. In order to increase one's compassion, he suggests replacing fantasies of revenge with fantasies of reconciliation. For example, the next time some reckless driver cuts you off, instead of imagining him/her caught in a speed trap, imagine instead coming upon the car pulled over with a flat tire and stopping to help the driver fix the tire. Perhaps you could meet for some Fair Trade coffee the next day, and maybe you will discover that you both lived in the same city for a while and share some common interests. I have recounted this paradigm to several people and sometimes have been met with gales of laughter. But it works. Since I have begun having fantasies of reconciliation, I find myself much less sensitive to imagined slights, better able to stay on an even keel, full of more humor, and quicker to make amends. I think that fantasies of reconciliation make me more Christ-like.

     Dear God,
     Thank you for the compassionate persistence of friends. Help us to imitate the loving compassion of Christ in our everyday lives. Just as we are nourished at your table, may we share the bounty of our table with the rest of the world. Amen

Contributed by Susan
Sunday June 17, 2007
Liturgical Year C Week 29