Gospel – John 21:1-19
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Reflection on the Gospel
Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.
It took a while for the Apostles to understand the Resurrection of Christ. They had a hard time recognizing Him when he appeared to them. Jesus appeared to them as a fisherman’s friend. He offered advice to them about where to toss the nets, and as a result they had plenty of fish caught. They recognized Christ by the kind actions shown to them. How do people begin to understand the Resurrected Christ? They understand Christ by seeing followers of Christ doing what Christ did, showing love and respect to all and loving their enemies. They rise above hatred, envy, selfishness, and retaliation. In today’s Gospel Christ
asks his apostles if they love him. When they answer yes, He then tells them to feed their sheep. In other words, if you love you will provide for those in need.
Are we showing Christ to others? What we do to others we do also to Christ. We try to show the workers at ICE who the resurrected Christ is. We do this not just with our words, but also with our actions. We tell them that we are willing to give immigrants sanctuary, a place to live, food to eat and to not be afraid.
One of the first messages to the Apostles was “Do not be afraid.” Christ did not come to scare people or make their lives harder to live. He came to show us the way to happiness, salvation, by word and deed. The meaning of salvation is happiness. He told us to love all, friend and foe, to be merciful to all, forgive always, offer hospitality to the homeless, food for the hungry, freedom from slavery and oppression. His dying on the cross was a perfect example of His message. He did all of these things. He forgave his persecutors. He did not seek revenge or react with violence toward those killing him. He died a pauper giving up all He had with others. In other words, He rose above hatred, selfishness and retribution. He truly rose from the dead. He showed us a new way of life. He gave us a new vision of living. Let us rejoice and be glad for Christ indeed has risen!
Don Timmerman
Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community in Milwaukee, WI
Live, Jesus, in our hearts – Forever