This year at St. Joseph’s Seminary, my seat in the chapel is directly across from a beautiful stained glass window depicting the scene from Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, where Jesus is waiting for the disciples on the shore after a difficult night of fishing. When they recognize it’s the Lord, Peter rushes to meet Him. This is where He asks Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” After Peter responds with a “yes” each time, Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” This scene from the Gospel has always moved me deeply. After betraying Jesus three times on the night before He died, Peter must have been so ashamed of himself. Peter, who was always the first of the Apostles to boldly profess his faith in Jesus, even to the point of saying he would die for him, abandoned the Lord like a coward. The window in our chapel shows Peter kneeling at Jesus’ feet as Jesus gives Him some bread to eat for breakfast. As I look at this window each day, I am very moved by the gaze between Jesus and Peter. Peter looks utterly humbled, realizing now more than ever just how much he needs a Savior. Jesus looks back at Peter with eyes of pure mercy. Rather than scolding Peter for his cowardice and betrayal, the Lord asks Him to reaffirm his love for him and commissions him, “Feed my sheep…follow me.”
This stained glass window and the beautiful scene it depicts was at the forefront of my mind this week as my classmate Logan Nilsen and I received the ministry of Acolyte, the last step before we are ordained deacons. Just as Jesus hands bread to the kneeling Peter, we knelt before the Bishop who handed us a paten with bread on it, as he said to us, “Take this vessel of bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.” As Acolytes, we are called in a special way to assist the priest at Mass, serve at the altar, prepare the liturgy, distribute Communion at Mass, and bring the Blessed Sacrament to the sick.
As I approach the end of my time in seminary, one thing the Lord has made very clear to me is how utterly I must depend on Him. Like Peter, who saw just how weak he was, my years of formation have shown me how much of an unmerited gift my vocation is. As St. Paul says, “having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” (2 Cor 4:1) I don’t know why Jesus has chosen me for this lofty vocation, but so He has. As I knelt before the Bishop, I felt as though he was asking me, “Stephen, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” He has given me the gift of my vocation so that I too may make of myself a gift to others. As we prepare to enter into Vocation Awareness week, please know of our gratitude for all of your prayers. Let us all reflect on the ways the Lord has gifted us with His mercy, and how He might be calling us to make of ourselves a gift to others.
Father Stephen Robbins
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