Vigils Reading

ON LOVING CHRIST

By St Augustine2

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Appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection, Our Lord put a question

to the Apostle Peter, prompting him who had denied him three times out of fear

to make a threefold profession of his love. Christ rose bodily from the dead,

Peter was raised spiritually. Christ our Lord rose from the dead, and by his love

raised Peter. What advantage was it to Christ to be loved by Peter? When Christ

loves you, you are the gainer, not Christ. And when you love Christ, again you

stand to gain, not Christ.

Wishing to teach all peoples how they can prove their love for him, Christ

our Lord made it plain that this is best proved by their concern for his sheep.

“Do you love me” Lord, you know that I love you. Feed my sheep.” This

happened not once, but a second and third time. Our Lord asked only, “Do you

love me?” He received no other answer than, “You know that I love you.” He

gave no other charge to Peter than “Feed my sheep”. If we love one another then

we also love Christ. For Christ, God from all eternity, was born of a human in

the course of time… As God in the form of human He worked many miracles.

As human He suffered many wrongs at the hands of humans. As God in the form

of human He arose from the dead. As human among humans He tarried on

earth forty days. As God in the form of human He ascended into heaven before

their eyes, and now is seated at the right hand of the Father. All this we fully

believe, although we do not see it.

2 Selected Easter Sermons of Saint Augustine. Commentary by Philip T. Weller. B. Herder Book Co. St. Louis, MO.

1959. p. 169.4

Neither do we see Christ whom we are commanded to love, and yet each

one of us cries out avowal: I love Christ! “If you do not love your brother or sister

whom you see, how can you love God whom you do not see?” In loving the sheep

we prove that we love the Shepherd, for the sheep are in truth the very members

of the Shepherd. In order that the sheep might be his members, He deigned to

become the Lamb of God. In order that the sheep might be his members, “He

was led as a sheep to the slaughter.” In order that the sheep might be his

members, it was said of him, “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes

away the sins of the world.” But what tremendous strength there is in this Lamb.

Would you like to know when strength was made manifest in this Lamb? Well,

the Lamb was crucified and the lion was overcome. Consider and reflect with

what power the world is ruled by Christ our Lord who vanquished the devil by

his death.

Let us, then, give him our love, and let nothing be dearer to us than He.

Or do you think that our Lord is not questioning us? Do you imagine that Peter

alone deserved to be questioned, and not ourselves? Whenever this lesson is

read, the heart of each and every Christian is being scrutinized. Therefore,

whenever you hear the Lord saying, “Peter, do you love me?” visualize a mirror

and examine your own reflection. For what else was Peter but a symbol of the

Church? Hence when the Lord questioned Peter, He was questioning us.