John 21,20-25 – Saturday of the VII Week of Easter
Peter, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved, asked him: “Lord, what about him?”. And Jesus answered: «If I want him to remain until I come, what does it matter to you? You follow me.” This final page of the Gospel of John it is very concrete and profoundly human. Peter, after receiving his mission and hearing challenging words about his destiny, immediately turns to another disciple.
It is an attitude that is very similar to us. In fact, we too struggle to stay focused on our path. We are often tempted to compare ourselves, to pry into the lives of others, to understand why God acts in one way with us and in another with someone different from us. But Jesus brings Peter back to the essentials: “Follow me”… and mind your own business! It’s as if he were telling him: don’t waste time measuring other people’s lives. Everyone has their own path, their own vocation, their own trials, their own times. And the greatest risk of spiritual life is distracting oneself from one’s own conversion by becoming too interested in that of others. This curiosity is rarely healthy. Very often it hides comparison, judgment, the need for control or even envy. Because of this Today’s Gospel is a great invitation to humility.
Jesus does not ask Peter to understand everything. He asks him to follow him. And then the Gospel ends with a beautiful phrase: “There are still many other things done by Jesus which, if they were written one by one, I think the world itself would not be enough to contain the books that would have to be written.” It is as if John were telling us that the Gospel is not finished. It must continue in the life of those who believe. Each of us, then, is called to become a living page of the Gospel. Each of us is the next chapter.
Saturday 23 May 2026 – (Saturday of the VII Week of Easter)
