LISTEN | 'Do You Love Me?': Abide in Christ, Not the World – Archbishop Aquila’s Call to Radical Discipleship in Honor of Pope Francis
- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila
- 23 hours ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 34 minutes ago
In a stirring homily on May 4, 2025, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila marked the conclusion of the Novemdiales — the nine days of mourning — for Pope Francis. Preaching on the Third Sunday of Easter, he echoed the voice of Christ asking Peter, and each of us: “Do you love me?”, challenging the Church to radical fidelity to Jesus amid the temptations of cultural compromise. Read or listen to Archbishop Aquila's full homily below.
Third Sunday of Easter – May 4th, 2025
Homily for the Ninth Day of Mourning for Pope Francis
Today, we celebrate the ninth day of mourning for the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. Our readings for today are appropriate to the celebration: the encounter with Peter and with Francis, who was Peter on this earth for 12 years. The question posed by Jesus in the Gospel, "Do you love me?" (John 21:15), is not only posed to Peter, but to every disciple.
Jesus' deepest desire is to have everyone respond to him in love because he has loved us first. He showed the depth of his love for us on Good Friday when he died for each one of us. He would tell us in the Gospels, "No greater love has one than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends" (John 15:13). It is the total gift of self that Jesus gives for us, and he seeks that response from Peter and from every disciple, and from every one of us present here today.
It is precisely in that personal encounter with Jesus that we hear the call, no matter what walk of life we may be in, no matter what state of life. That call is given to everyone. In calling for this Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Francis, in the bull that he put forward establishing this Jubilee Year of Hope, stated: "For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (John 10:7-9) of our salvation" (Spes Non Confundit 1).
Jesus is our hope to be proclaimed everywhere. Pope Francis reminds us that we, too, are to propose the Gospel; that we, too, are to propose Jesus Christ to the world today; that we are to be like the apostles who preach the name of Jesus and invite others to encounter him and put their faith in him.
Jesus asked the question three times of Peter because Peter denied him three times. All three times, Peter responds, "Yes, Lord, I love you" (John 21:15). Then, Jesus gives the invitation at the very end: "Follow me" (John 21:19). That is an invitation given to every disciple — that we are to be those who follow him, in relationship with him.
He tells us in the Gospel, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest... learn from me" (Matthew 11:28-29). He tells us in John 6 that "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). And he tells us in John 15:4-6, "Abide in me... for apart from me, you can do nothing."
In these words of Jesus, he invites us into relationship and intimacy with him. Jesus must come first, and it is a relationship of intimacy and friendship (John 15:14-16). It is a constant call to heed the First Commandment. We believe Jesus is true God and true man, and the First Commandment is that you love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. That invitation is given to everyone. We learn from Jesus what it means to love by being in relationship with him. It means hearing his words spoken to us — that his very food is to do the will of the Father.
Peter and the apostles heard this when, in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, they went before the Sanhedrin and were being questioned. They said, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Let those words sink into your heart. We must ask ourselves today: Who am I obedient to? Am I obedient to the world? To secularism? To society? To culture? To some ideology? Or am I obedient to God?
It is precisely in that listening, that obedience, that we come to live the Gospel, that we hear the words of Jesus spoken to each one of us. As he begins his ministry he proclaims: "Repent and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15). We want to repent from everything that is not of Jesus Christ. That means ongoing conversion. It means ongoing seeking of his mercy. It means that we are made to grow in virtue and holiness throughout our entire lives. It means living the Gospel and being faithful to it. It means that in all things, Jesus must come first before anything else.
That is where the great challenge is today because there are those within the world — whether they be cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, religious or laity — who want to put the world first, or culture first, or society first or some ideology first. They will say, "Well, the Church needs to catch up with the signs of the times." All that is doing is listening to the voice of the world, not to the invitation of Jesus to “Come, follow me;” not to the invitation to “repent and believe in the Gospel;” not to the invitation to seek first the will of the Father; not to abide in Jesus.
Instead, it says, "We will decide." All of us know from history that cultures and societies — all, at some time — rise and fall and change. But, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace" (Hebrews 13:8-9). The Gospel is not some whim; the Gospel is Jesus Christ and the encounter with him.
We must follow Jesus and proclaim him and abide in him. In all the talk today about inclusivity, we must remember that yes, the Gospel call, the invitation, is inclusive. But discipleship is not inclusive, because it means radically following Jesus Christ. It means living our lives by his plans, by his commandments, by his call in the Gospel. It is not me picking and choosing what is right and wrong. It is not me who decides what is good or what is evil. It is me living in the words of Pope Francis that genuine, personal encounter with Jesus Christ, the “door.” Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:16).
Some today will say, "Well, the Church needs to change." But we must look at the promise of Jesus in John 15: You will know them by their fruit. He tells us, "If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit" (John 15:5). Yes, you will be pruned by the Father, because all of us are sinners and we need to be pruned. But if you do not abide in Jesus, you will wither and die.
My sisters and brothers, that is precisely what has happened in Europe and in other places. Rather than seeing that they have moved away from God and do not abide in him, they say, "Oh, well, we must follow the culture, or the world or society." All that brings is chaos and misery. It does not bear any fruit. What fruit do the ideologies of today bear except for bitterness, hatred, resentment? We must be those who live the Gospel in charity and in truth, in all its fullness and, yes, in all its demands. There is a real cost to discipleship, a dying to oneself so that we can say with Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Sadly, in the German synodal process, what they have proposed for the last three or four years are all things that other Christian communities have proposed and are doing — whether they be Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, etc. They have ordained women, blessed same-sex unions, promoted contraception, updated beliefs according to culture and society. Those communities are empty, divided and continue to splinter. All you must do is Google to see how many Christian communities there are, and the thousands of distinct types of Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Unitarians, Bible Churches and so on, separated from one another following their own way. They have borne no fruit because they have failed to proclaim Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Even more sad is that the German synodal process has ignored Pope Francis and his pleas to them not to continue the course they are on and, then after his death, published blessings for “couples who love one another.” A complete ignoring of Peter and the unity of the Church.
They have failed to believe that for Jesus Christ, for God, all things are possible — that he can heal every wound, that he can heal every brokenness, that he can forgive every sin. We see that in the Gospel — whether it be the encounter with the man with the withered hand, the encounter with the Samaritan woman, the encounter with Zacchaeus, the encounter with the adulterous woman, the encounter with Peter and Paul.
And we can see it throughout history in the lives of the saints and the encounters that they had with Jesus Christ — whether it be Augustine, Ignatius of Loyola, Catherine of Siena or Teresa of Avila. And yes, even with a great, great sinner like Rudolf Hoss, responsible for the death of over 3 million people in Auschwitz, who encountered Jesus Christ at the end of his life, repented and believed and confessed his sins before being hanged for his crimes. For God, all things are possible — it may take years — but all people can change if they persevere and receive the love of Jesus Christ. Grace is real and powerful! People can go from being a great sinner to one who grows in holiness and becomes a saint.
Too often today, we are like the man in the Gospel who brings his son with seizures to Jesus and says, "If you can do anything...” and Jesus replies "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9: 22-23). Jesus is reminding him that with God all things are possible.
Today, we too often say not only "if you can," but "you can't change this person” or “it is impossible for people to change or be healed of their brokenness or wounds.” That is a lie. That is a human way of thinking and speaking, or the devil himself speaking to us, who has convinced us that we cannot change. It is a terrible lie.
So, the great question posed to us today is: Where do we find Jesus? We find him in the Gospel. Yes, he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yes, he invites us: "Follow me, and come to me, abide in me, and I will give you rest." The world will not give you rest. Nothing will give you the kind of rest that Jesus Christ can give you.
Jesus poses the question to every disciple today: "Do you love me?" — whether he be cardinal, bishop, priest, deacon, religious or lay. He poses that question to every disciple, to each one of you, and to me, today. How do we respond to that question and enter into friendship with Jesus?
I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, to continue to pray the Surrender Novena in the days ahead of and during the conclave, trusting in the Lord completely. I pray it every day now. A very short, simple prayer is given each day for nine days, and you can just keep cycling through it. And you can pray the simple memorable words, "Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything." That means we trust Jesus. We put our faith in him and have confidence in him and all his promises.
Wherever these readings are speaking to your heart today, open your heart to them, and to Jesus most of all. As you receive the Eucharist, speak with Jesus heart-to-heart. Hear Jesus say to you, calling you by name, and asking you, "Do you love me?" Reply in your own heartfelt words.
