Feed My Sheep

by Deacon Lorna Goodison on April 28, 2022

Have you ever received a breakfast invitation? This Sunday’s gospel (John 21:1-19) is set against the background of a breakfast invitation. It was daybreak, and the Risen Jesus appeared to His disciples for the third time.  In His resurrected glory Jesus directed the disciples to a large catch of fish, then invited them to share a meal. He said to them, “come and have breakfast.” The sharing of bread and fish and the common fellowship set the tone for Jesus’ conversation with Peter.

Three times Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Jesus’ words were a loving, yet piercing challenge that led Peter to face himself. He loved Jesus with brotherly love, but Jesus opened his eyes to see how much more he could grow in love. By His questions, Jesus extended His arms of love, friendship, and forgiveness, to Peter who had denied Him three times.

But Jesus was offering Peter more than a restored relationship. Jesus offered Peter a new relationship: a re-birth rooted in sacrificial love. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13).  Christ’s giving of Himself on the cross was motivated by sacrificial love. By His grace, Jesus welcomed Peter into divine love and invited him to offer himself for growth into faithful, sacrificial love. Then Peter would find the inner freedom to become the shepherd and guardian of souls. So, each time Peter affirmed his love for Jesus, Jesus commissioned him, “Feed my lambs.” “Tend my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.” 

 Soon, Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) would no longer be bodily present. Peter, the sheep whom Jesus had fed and nourished, would become the shepherd, feeding other sheep in the power of the Good Shepherd’s spirit. The re-born Peter was entrusted with the sacred and awesome responsibility of self-sacrificially nurturing and guiding God’s people with the good news of salvation through the love of Jesus Christ. And he was to feed all souls, from the spiritually immature lamb to the growing and the mature sheep.

Today, Peter’s commissioning proclaims God’s desire for all of us, frail human beings, to share in His own life, His mission on earth. What a mystical, humbling, yet uplifting task! As we fellowship with Jesus at the Eucharistic table, may we prayerfully contemplate, “how can I grow in love for Jesus?”  Hopefully, we will find the grace to live into Jesus’ call to shepherd God’s people out of the shadows of death into God’s abundant life!

Tags: love, salvation, good news, shepherd, friendship, relationship, nurture, guiding, feed my lambs, tend my sheep

About the Author
Deacon Lorna Goodison

Reverend Lorna Goodison was ordained to the Diaconate on April 29, 2007. After discerning a call to ordained ministry, Deacon Lorna completed a process of spiritual discernment and pursued three years of study at the Diocesan School for Christian Studies. She also completed three units of hospice care training through Vitas and for a short while she was a volunteer Chaplain. Highlights of her continuing education activities include a guided visit to Israel and attending the Festival of Homiletics in Boulder, Colorado.

Soon after her ordination, Deacon Lorna was called to serve as Deacon at St. Mary Magdalene. She initiated an outreach ministry to the homeless at St. Laurence Chapel, obtaining the support and involvement of most members of the congregation. This ministry remained a vibrant outreach of the Church until the Chapel closed in 2019.  Other outreach ministries formed include an informal group of members who stay in touch with members who are ill and shut-in. Deacon Lorna remains committed to both the in-reach and outreach ministries of the Church. She has led quiet day reflections for groups within and outside of St. Mary Magdalene. She has often led Deacon’s Masses at small churches without a priest. Of all the ministries in which Deacon Lorna participates, she is most humbled and grateful to be involved in the ministry of praying with congregants facing life’s challenges.

Deacon Lorna serves the Diocese of Southeast Florida as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. She also serves on the Board of Deacons.   

Professionally, Deacon Lorna worked for some years in Human Resource Departments as a Training Manager, but most of her working years were spent in Social Work. She worked with at-risk teenagers counselling them and guiding them to resources to build a meaningful future. The last twenty years of her profession, were spent working with Seniors, guiding them to the resources needed to maintain their safety and independence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master’s degree in Adult Education. She is now retired, cherishes some alone time for prayer and reflection, but divides her time between the Church and her family which consists of two daughters, their husbands and three grandchildren.

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