The Conclave, and our three Rs

This Easter, in addition to celebrating the Resurrection, I had the joy of seeing a friend get confirmed at the Easter Vigil. I gave her a card, into which I had slipped a vinyl sticker, with the words Redeemed, Renewed, Restored, which I felt would capture something of her journey with God over these past few years. It also, of course, sums up the truly awesome and glorious gift which lies at the heart of Easter: that through the death and resurrection of Jesus we - all of us - have been redeemed, renewed and restored, in and by Love.

And on Sunday it struck me that redemption, renewal and restoration are what lie at the heart of the Gospel account of Jesus' breakfast encounter with Peter; in particular, their threefold exchange of questions and replies: do you love me?... Yes, Lord, you know I love you (John 21: 1-19). With each declaration of love, Peter deepens and strengthens his redemption; is renewed, and restored to ever greater intimacy and discipleship... and to an increasing, widening mission and ministry, all for Love. 

On Sunday, across the Catholic world, we all read and listened to and reflected on this Gospel... and this 'all' includes the man who, in a few days will be elected our new Pope, and successor of Peter. How did he - how did each of his fellow Cardinals - read and pray with these words? We cannot know - but we can pray for him. That is what we did today in my deanery, when we ended our meeting with a Mass for the guidance of the Conclave, and the election of a Pope. We were a few people out of around 1.40 billion Catholics, in a tiny corner of a vast world... but we were also a link in an unbroken chain of prayer and faith, circling the world, and the Sistine Chapel, along with the rest of the people of God, with whom we too will be chimney-watching, and waiting in prayerful hope, just as we did in 2013. 

And meanwhile, wherever we are in life, Jesus continues to meet and call and mission each one of us. Maybe not with direct questions, but his call comes with opportunities for us to affirm our love for him: not merely through words, heartfelt though they be, but in our actions and self-giving, our witness, and the depth and extent of our love for his world and its people. And every day, too, he offers us this gift and this grace: to be, and to know that we are, redeemed, renewed and restored, in and by Love...