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1. Today's Gospel is the first part of chapter
21 (the last chapter) of Saint John's Gospel and it
follows on immediately after the Gospel which we read
last Sunday which was at the end of chapter 20. You
recall that one of the incidents related in last
Sunday's Gospel was the account of Jesus appearing to a
group of his disciples after his resurrection from the
dead and commissioning them - "As the Father has sent
me, so also I send you." In effect he handed over to
them his life's work and authorized them to act on his
behalf.
Today’s story begins with Peter and several
other disciples deciding to go fishing - "Simon Peter
said to them, 'I am going fishing'. They said to him,
'We will go with you.' " Now, what is strange about that
is that these were the very same men whom Jesus, early
on in his ministry, had invited to leave their boats and
their nets to follow him and he would make them "fishers
of men." And they did leave everything to follow him.
But now they go back to their old profession again,
which would seem to imply that they thought that the
work they had been doing with Jesus had come to an end;
that it was all over once Jesus had been put to death.
And if that were so, then the obvious thing to do would
be to go back to their old way of life.
And what about the commission of which we
read last Sunday - "As the Father has sent me, so also I
send you." Why did they not take that up immediately?
Was it that they were still confused and uncertain as to
what they were to do, how to go about the task?
2. The story does bring home to us that nothing
happens or is likely to happen in the Church, the
community of the followers of Jesus, if Jesus himself is
not there to support and encourage them. However gentle
and unobtrusive that presence may be, it is absolutely
necessary to get things up and going. But let's have a
closer look at what happened. Surely on that occasion
when he appeared to Peter and the others as they were
fishing, he might have rebuked or scolded them - 'Why on
earth are you not doing what I asked you to do? Here
you are back fishing while there is so much to be
done!" But not a word of reproof or disapproval; no
sign of his being annoyed with them. Instead he accepts
them as they are and talks to them about what they are
doing and even suggests how they might improve their
fishing - "Children, have you any fish? They answered
him, 'No'. He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right
side of the boat and you will find some.' " He seems to
fit in perfectly and without fuss into the context of
their lives just then. And in fact it is his presence
and advice which help them to be successful at what they
are doing.
We
might reflect here that we are often inclined to expect
the presence of the Lord to be something quite apart and
distinct from our daily lives. The story of the
appearance of Jesus to Peter and the other disciples
brings home to us that Jesus comes to meet us and to
join us in the daily affairs of life. His presence is
so finely interwoven into the context of our day-to-day
lives that, by and large, it can go unnoticed. In fact,
in the story of today's Gospel, it is only after having
spoken with him and having interacted with him, that
they recognize who it really his - "It is the Lord!"
So, the lesson is that the Lord may well be with us
without our being aware of his presence. Hopefully, at
some stage we do come to recognize his being with us.
3. And the story continues. After recognizing
Jesus, Peter jumps out of the boat and wades ashore; the
others follow in the boat. On the shore they find that
Jesus has prepared breakfast for them - "When they got
out on the land, they see a charcoal fire there, with
fish lying on it, and bread." ... "Jesus said to them.
'Come and have breakfast.'" The whole setting is so
normal and so natural, and Jesus' behaviour is
calculated to put them at their ease and make them feel
at home with him.
Why is it that we seem to be so attracted to
the extraordinary, the miraculous - the bleeding
crucifixes and weeping statues - as if it were in such
things that the Lord makes his presence felt. Why do we
distract ourselves with these things if the Lord is with
us in the most ordinary things of life? If the catching
of fish and eating of breakfast were important to Jesus,
who am I to say or think otherwise. If he could give
his time and attention to these things, how dare I say
that they are not important? All that we do is
important to him and that is why he is anxious that we
should do all things well and why too he is willing to
help us in all that we do. To see ourselves and the
world and all we do as important is to see them as Jesus
sees them.
3. And then after breakfast, when everybody
seems to be at their ease, Jesus turns to Peter and puts
the question to him - "Simon, son of John, do you love
me more than these?" Here we are on a different plane
altogether to the previous part of the story. Up to now
Jesus was content with just being with his disciples;
but now he is asking Peter, at least, to declare how he
sees his relationship with him. Three times he puts the
question to Peter, which would seem to imply that he
wants Peter to be absolutely sure of how he stands with
him. It was like saying - "Do you love me? / Are you
sure you love me? / Are you absolutely certain that you
love me?" And of course Peter is not at all sure of
himself. He must have remembered just then how badly he
had let Jesus down at the time of his trial. Three
times he had denied that he had anything to do with him
and then he had run away. So, not quite knowing what is
in his heart, he appeals to Jesus - Yes, Lord; you know
that I love you. It was like as if he were protesting -
'Look, Lord, I may not be the bravest man in the world
and I certainly don't always get things right, but deep
down my heart is with you. You must know me better than
I do myself.' And, I suppose, that is the best that any
of us can do. Who knows himself, herself, that well
that he or she can be absolutely sure of what is in
their hearts.
They say that Jesus put the same question to
Peter three times - "Simon, son of John, do you love
me?" to give him the chance to make up for the three
times that he had denied him. And I should imagine that
all of us, in one way or another will, throughout our
lives, hear the Lord gently but persistently asking us
if we love him. For all of us, to some extent, do let
him down, do fail him. But still he will keep on asking
- "Do you love me?" That persistent voice keeps a
gentle pressure on us and makes us feel uneasy as it did
with Peter - "Peter was grieved because he said to him
the third time, 'Do you love me? Some people
misinterpret that feeling of uneasiness, thinking its
presence means that they have done something wrong. But
it may well be the voice of the Lord gently urging us
forward; to take one more step with him; making us feel
that there is still something further to be done. And
if that is so, then we should be glad that we feel
uneasy, grieved like Peter, because it means that we are
listening to the voice of the Lord.
Jesus had no problem in accepting Peter
despite all his hesitancy and his uncertainty. And
there is no reason to think that he does not accept us
too despite all our shortcomings.
QUOTATIONS:
1. “To be truly human, it is now established, is
to be divine. To be is to be blessed. To live is to be
holy. Everything is grace.
To believe this is to be transformed into
another way of perceiving our identity and our humanity.
To believe this is to be subjected to a paradigm shift
where we are present to ourselves and to others in an
irrevocably transformed way. A veil parts. The stone is
moved. The focus changes. In light of this disclosure
moment, I found it so moving to believe that the
lifeless and vibrant, the full and empty, the struggling
and hoping people before me last Sunday, were, without
doubt, the very heart of the Church, the blessed
sacrament of the divine presence, the only true and real
presence of the living Christ of the Resurrection. God
comes to us disguised as our lives. Nothing is just
ordinary any more. Every bush is a burning bush. This
incredible revelation is, in fact, the very mystery we
celebrate at every Eucharist.”
(Daniel O’Leary, Easter at the Forge Cross, The
Tablet 17 April 2004, p 14) |
