When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” The tension between taking care of our own needs, worrying about ourselves and following Christ with an undivided heart is the same struggle that Peter and the Apostles faced. We struggle to love Jesus as he loves us, to love him as he deserves, to love him because we desire to love him and not because we are obliged to. Thanks be to God for his great love and untiring patience. Even when we can’t or won’t love God perfectly, he still loves us perfectly. God meets us where we are and gently moves us to better place, to a better space, to a better love. The Lord helps us to move beyond ourselves and draws us closer to him. In his letter “God is Love,” Benedict XVI uses the conversation between Peter and Jesus to explain the difference between divine and human love. Jesus speaks about a love which is unconditional and a total self-offering of himself while Peter talks about a love that is affectionate and fraternal. Jesus says: “Do you love me more than these?” In this question, Jesus is asking “do you love me more than anything else in your life?” “Do you love me more than anyone in your life?” But Peter responds in a manner that seems to say, “Lord you know that I worry and care about you.”  Jesus simply meets Peter where he and wants him to encourage the people with his words. Jesus asks Peter a second time, “Do you love me?” Peter responds in the same way as before but Jesus encourages Peter to take care of God’s people and to be attentive to their needs. In other words, love the people. Jesus asks a third time, “Do you love me?” Peter just says, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.” Yes, God knows everything about us. We belong to him; we are his. He knows how much and how little we love him but isn’t good to hear? Isn’t good to say? Wouldn’t it be great to say, I love you Lord because we truly mean it; Father, I love you – Brother, I love you – Holy Friend, I really love you. The challenge for us is to learn how to move from human love to divine love. To seek God’s gift and share what we have received. We have to allow Jesus to nourish us with the gift of divine love so that we can truly say “Lord, you know that I love you with all my heart, mind, body and soul.”