7th Week of Easter
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Daily Meditation: John 21:20-25
What concern is it of yours? (John 21:22)
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media or looking at the people around you and thinking, “Why is everyone else doing so much better than me?” It’s as though we’re wired to compare ourselves to one another. We just can’t help thinking, “What about them and their success? What does that say about me?”
This is the same question Peter asked Jesus in today’s Gospel. After Jesus speaks of Peter’s future—a future marked by suffering and likely martyrdom—Peter points to John and asks, “Lord, what about him?” (John 21:21). Troubled by what he’d heard about his own path, Peter immediately turns his attention to someone who appears to be “doing better” as a disciple. Jesus responds gently but firmly: “What concern is it of yours? You follow me” (21:22).
Jesus could just as easily say the same thing to us, especially when we get caught up in comparing ourselves to someone else and imagining how much better God’s plan for them is. Gently but firmly, he asks us to fix our eyes on him and follow the path he has laid out for us. He knows that if we focus on him, we will discover the love that he has for us, and that love will fill our hearts in ways that comparing ourselves with others never can. Instead of getting distracted or discouraged by what could be, we find a sense of peace and contentment with what actually is, even if it is difficult.
Not only will focusing on Jesus help quiet our souls, but it will also give us the courage and strength to take up the calling he has for us. As St. Paul once wrote, the love of Christ “impels” us to live not for ourselves but to spend our lives following him and obeying his will (2 Corinthians 5:14).
God’s call for you is as unique and unrepeatable as you are. So the next time you feel that familiar tug to compare, pause and hear Jesus ask, “What concern is it of yours? Follow me.”
“Jesus, give me only your love and your grace, for they are enough for me.”
Acts 28:16-20, 30-31
Psalm 11:4-5, 7