May 5, 2019

Third Sunday of Easter

It is The Lord!

I am convinced without a doubt that Christ was raised from dead to life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Christ’s resurrection is the fulfillment of the promises, both of the old Testament and of Jesus Himself during his earthly life. The resurrection of the crucified one shows that He was truly ‘I Am’, the Son of God and God Himself. Christ’s resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God’s Son and is its fulfillment in accordance with God’s eternal plan” (CCC nos. 652, 653).  St. Paul said it better, “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1Cor 15:13-14). On that first Easter Sunday, Peter and his companions experienced the risen Christ as they never expected to and that changed the trajectory of their lives. Peter was emboldened by the spirit of the risen Lord to stand up to the Sanhedrin and accuse them of being responsible for Christ death. “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and Savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God had given to those who obey Him” (first reading). This is the same Peter, who, a few days ago could not stand up to a young girl and admit that he knew Jesus.

There was something fascinating about Peter that, in my opinion, endeared him to Jesus – the crass humanity of Peter; and this makes the person of Peter appealing to us. We can identify easily with him. Peter was impetuous. One minute he confessed the divinity of Jesus, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16); the next minute he tried to prevent Jesus from accepting the will of His father to which he was reprimanded by Christ to “get behind me Satan.” But there was an undeniable friendship between Jesus and Peter; the friendship so strong that just a look from Jesus communicated to Peter that he had betrayed that friendship and hurt their relationship. According to William J. Bausch in ‘Story Telling the Word’, “The scene of two men in silent confrontation in the palace courtyard tells us the real meaning of Christianity. It is, when you come right down to it, a living relationship with a living Person. It is always and forever the relationship of redeemed human beings with the person of Jesus Christ in faith, trust, forgiveness, and love – in all the ways that one person is bound to another.”

In today’s Gospel Peter is returning to his trade: fishing. His statement: “I am going fishing” could mean that he was returning to the trade he thought he was good at or he was simply bored and needed to distract himself from the thought of betraying his friend and the constant reminder of the look of Jesus. Could it mean that Peter had some doubts about catching people for the kingdom as he was commanded by Christ? If he was not adept at fishing how would he be in catching people! Unfortunately, Peter, in my opinion, was not very good at catching fish. His first encounter with Jesus was when he was at his duty post trying to catch fish. To the request of Jesus to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” his answer was “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets” (Lk. 5:5). For the second time, Jesus met Peter and his companions again during his fishing expedition and enquired: “Children, have you caught anything yet?” “No.” So he said to them “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something” (Jn. 21:3-6). It was when they caught so many number of fish that made John to exclaim: “It is the Lord”. How could they, who caught nothing throughout the night be so lucky, just because stranger had told them to cast the nets on the other side of the boat? John could recall their last encounter with Jesus when they had work all night long and caught nothing. Christ had told them what to do before they had their boats filled with fish. It had to be the Lord. Christ showed Peter and his companions that apart from him they could do nothing. He demonstrated to Peter that he (Christ) was better at Peter’s job than Peter himself hence Peter should learn another trade with the help of the grand master himself. Many times, we think we know it all. We often try to keep God out of our lives. But Christ tells us, “apart from me you can do nothing”. God provides us with the strength, the energy and the wisdom we need to do all that we do and to succeed in them.

Whenever we run away from God, he comes in search of us. “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (Jn. 15:16). Unworthy as we are God chose us as he chose the prophets of old and the Apostles. When they sinned, he forgave them and waits for them to turn back to him.  He shows us the father’s love in the story of the prodigal son, (Lk 15); and demonstrates his forgiveness in the story of the woman caught in the act of committing adultery, (Jn. 8). He reached out to Peter at the sea of Tiberias, still caring, cooking a meal for his friends, providing fish for their upkeep, giving them encouragement and hope and offering them forgiveness and love. Yes, it is the Lord, he is the only one who appears when all hope is gone, he refreshes us when water is dried up and the rain refuses to fall. It is the Lord who brings healing and strength to our failing bodies and restores us to wholeness when we are sick. “What am sure about tomorrow is that providence will rise before the dawn” because it is the Lord.

Jesus knew his friend Peter more than Peter knew himself. He knew Peter loved him, but he wanted him to say it with his mouth. After all he had told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22:31-32). He knew that Satan had put his ugly hands on Peter and at the moment of weakness, he denied Christ, Christ was back to make it right. Christ asked him three times, ‘do you love me. “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you”. Yes, Peter was right, Christ knew everything, he knew that Peter loved him.

So, we pray that we may not forget that the Lord stands always at our shores loving, instructing, watching and looking out for us. He has a meal prepared for us. When we are tempted to run away from the Lord, may we not forget our relationship with him. May we have the courage to say with Peter, Lord, you know everything, you know we love you. Please pray for us as you prayed for Peter that our faith may not fail, strengthen us at the moment of our weakness so that we may not betray you. Help us to see the look of love in your eyes for us so that we may weep for our sins and turn back to you. Amen.