The Gospels for the first half of the Easter Season of 50 days
focus on the Resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples. The apostles did not come to an immediate
Easter faith in the Risen Lord; rather it was gradual. In fact, they were ready to go back fishing
-- get their old jobs back. But once
their hearts were touched as the disciples of Jesus, they were fearless proclaimers
of the Word of God. What about us? How much of our lives are shaped and
determined by our faith in the Risen Lord?
From today’s Gospel the apostles were on a failed fishing
expedition. That night they had caught
nothing. The fish just weren’t biting. This was an exercise in patience and asking
themselves what is going on.
I invite you to imagine yourself in this Gospel scene. As I say, the apostles were fishing all night
and caught nothing. What issue in your
life leaves you with the feeling of fishing all night and catching
nothing? Perhaps it is parenting, and it seems that
your child or children aren’t getting it.
Perhaps it is concerns about your own health or the health of someone
you love. Perhaps it is dealing with an
addiction in your life. What fear or
anxiety continually gets the best of you?
Perhaps it is your job situation.
What would it take for you to snap out of your funk and to
see your future is full of hope? For the
apostles, Jesus said: “Cast your net
over to the right side of the boat and you will find something.” When we can trust in God’s guidance for our
lives, we will experience the abundance of God’s grace as the apostles did in
the great catch of fish. Rather than
giving us on a relationship or a project, we ask for the grace of persistence
and to trust that God goes with us.
Plain and simple, just as a bad night of fishing can lead to
a great catch; so too for us, dealing with the struggles can lead to a deeper
experience of God’s love in our life. Like Peter we are called to profess our trust
in Jesus. When that happens, the
abundance of God’s blessing will follow.
The risen Lord then invites the disciples to join him for
breakfast. Then after the breakfast,
Jesus asks Peter three times: “Do you
love me?” He whose only concern was to
announce the unconditional love of God had one question for his followers. “Do you love me?” Jesus had but one question but it was so
important that he asked it three times.
The background for this dialogue is the obvious: Love is our greatest gift.
What is it children want from their parents more than
anything else? They want to be loved.
Considering the beauty of all of God’s creation, what is
God’s greatest gift to us? It is God’s
love, made incarnate in Jesus.
Peter cannot truly be a pastor and shepherd like Jesus
unless he loves like Jesus. He must love
Jesus, and therefore he must love the people whom he will serve.
Jesus helps us to know the heart of God.
In today’s Gospel, Peter is every person. He who had vehemently denied his
discipleship, as well as his association with Jesus, was now given his
opportunity to renew his love for Jesus.
Message: God never gave up on
Peter. The Lord never gives us on us.
In this year of the jubilee of mercy, Pope Francis again and
again invites into the heart God -- a heart filled with mercy and love. The Lord never gives us on us. There is nothing we can do to stop God from
loving us. The Church is to do likewise. The Church is reveal the merciful love of
Jesus into the lives of people.
As the pastor of St Joseph’s, I deeply apologize for any way
that our parish faith community has not witnessed to the merciful love of Jesus
in your life or in your family’s life.
Going back to the Gospel when Peter responded in the
affirmative in declaring his love for Jesus.
Jesus responded: “Feed my
sheep.” Truly love is not just a feeling;
it is not just experiencing a moment of ecstasy. Love is shown in action. We are to show our love for God by loving the
people God loves. This means
everyone. The heart of God reaches out
to each and every person on planet earth.
We show our love for God by doing what Jesus did at the Last
Supper -- by getting down on our knees and washing the feet of God’s poor. As Jesus said on that blessed night of the
Last Supper: “By this all shall know
that you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.”
We who gather to celebrate the
Eucharist Sunday after Sunday are to glorify God by the actions of our
lives. Our celebration of the Eucharist
is radically incomplete if we do not share with others the merciful love of
Jesus that has been given to us as we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at
Communion.
At the end of the day, the
question Jesus asks of each of us is the threefold question asked of
Peter: “Do you love me. Life gives us endless opportunities for that
response. In countless ways, we are
called to feed, to serve one another in need.
When we come before the Lord, after we proudly list all of
our achievements and accomplishments, the Lord is still going to ask us: “Do you love me?” What the Lord has in mind when he asks us
this question is how have you shown your love to that person or to those people
whom it is most difficult for you to love?
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