HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR C

In today's Gospel we have a beautiful image of the Church: The disciples, led by Peter, in a small fishing boat. At the Lord's command they lower the nets and bring in a huge catch - one hundred and fifty-three large fish. The number obviously has significance - and can tell us something about the Church. Early Christian writers said that the number implies that the Lord wants to include all people in his Church. St. Jerome (who was arguably the greatest Scripture scholar in early Church) noted that zoologists of that time identified 153 species of fish. The number, 153, indicates that Lord wants us to bring people of every nation, language and ethnic group.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him? If you asked your wife or partner “Do you love me?” and received the answer yes, would you repeat the question two more times?  If you did, wouldn’t it indicate that you doubted it or were very insecure? Yet Jesus does ask Peter three times, and when he gets his answer, he issues a command – If you love me, you will feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.  There is an obvious intent to these questions on the part of the Gospel writer.  Peter has denied Christ three times, and therefore is asked three times to affirm his love. The church has always seen this as Jesus asking Peter to shepherd his flock.

I find it interesting that Jesus asks Peter if he loves him more than the other apostles. The other apostles seemed to be always vying for position and Jesus always seemed to put them down for it, that it was not appropriate for them to try to be better than the others. And yet Jesus clearly asks Peter if he loves him more than the others love him.

What would you answer if Jesus asked you this question? Considering that before his death Peter had abandoned him and denied knowing him, and yet asks him three times the question, this tells me that despite our faults, despite our sins, despite our denying God, he wants to give us a chance again and again to respond to him. He wants us to love him as much as he loves us.

The first part of today’s Gospel shows the Apostles working through the night, perhaps to keep busy out of fear and concern, and then having an appearance of someone, someone on shore they do not immediately recognize as Jesus, but soon do.  If this story strikes you as similar to a story that is told in Luke’s Gospel before Jesus’ death, you are right. Some theologians feel that the story was one in use already that was adapted by John to make a point as an after-death experience. Jesus asks them to cast their nets and they bring in an abundance of fish.  These can be seen as metaphorical…Jesus in his resurrected state can bring us an abundance of riches and blessings. To get these, we simply have to respond to what Jesus asks.

In both the First Reading and the Gospel we see how the Apostles are willing to respond to Jesus and do what he asks, to follow him, even if it gets them into trouble. Peter, in the First Reading, later in his life, is obviously showing the love of Christ that he had professed to Jesus in the Gospel today.  When arrested, he tells them that it better to follow God than to follow men. Even when he is told that he must not preach, he remains undaunted in his mission to preach the Good News, even if it gets him in trouble or, as happens eventually, leads to his death. Peter proves the maxim of Jesus that no greater love is there than to die for a friend. We also learn from this scene in the Acts of the Apostles that there are two elements to the work of the early church – preaching and the work of the Spirit. The two go together.  Preaching the Word without the Spirit is empty and the Spirit without the Word to back it up becomes ungrounded in the witness of the first Apostles.

The tie in to the Second Reading today which is from Revelation is the idea of the worthiness of Jesus to be worshipped and glorified. Jesus is again seen as the Paschal Lamb who was slain for our sins and for this sacrifice has merited blessing, honor, glory and might. Jesus is worthy of Peter’s love and he is worthy of our love. In loving him and doing what he asks we honor and glorify Jesus.

How can we relate this to our lives this week?  We need to look at the balance in our lives. How can we show our love for Jesus? How can we know what he asks?  How can we do what he asks? How can our love manifest itself in our lives to his glory? How can we, like the Apostles, follow God rather than society. These are all questions which we are asked to consider this week as part of our attempt to understand the implications of the Resurrection in our lives. Three weeks ago we pondered the empty tomb and last week we looked at the implications of Jesus appearance in the locked room. Each of these is an attempt by the Gospel writer to increase our faith, to broaden our vision and attempt to explain what is unexplainable in human terms. Have we come to grips with what the Resurrection means to you and how it can affect your everyday actions? We are an Easter community.  What does that mean to you, and how should we then treat each other in this community.  How should this translate into what we do outside this community?  Hopefully, you will think about these things as we move through the weeks after Easter and look more closely at this mystery which is at the heart of our church life!

Jesus means his Church to be "Catholic," that is, universal. Jesus has something for every human being. He alone can satisfy the deepest longing of each person.

The Church by its nature is Catholic - meant for everyone. You will, in fact, find Christians in almost every nation of the world. Still, we have a long way to go in bringing all people to Christ. We might even feel frustrated that so many fish seem to be slipping out of the net!

We have a lot to learn from today's Gospel. They worked all night, but caught nothing. They kept at it even though they did not see results. But then - when they were bone tired, ready to call it a night - Jesus tells them to put out the nets. Like the apostles We must do our required tasks, but also be ready for surprises, the Lord's unexpected presence. He can open up a possibility - and even though we might feel exhausted and discouraged - that might be the moment of the greatest opportunity. How often in my years as a priest have I seen the greatest results from something I did not plan or expect. Shakespeare said:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

That also applies to our faith. There is a moment to let down the nets, to bring in a harvest of souls. To recognize that moment requires daily prayer, being attentive to the Lord's voice. Often people will tell me their concerns about their children or grandchildren who have fallen from the practice of the faith. I encourage them to spend time in prayer, especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Maybe they are not the one to speak a word to a child or grandchild. Maybe the Lord will send someone else - or touch their hearts in a more direct way. Our main task is to listen to the Lord and be prepared to speak or act when he tells us. To quote again from Shakespeare: "the readiness is all." We must be ready to hear the Lord's voice and act.

There is something more: we also have to keep the boat and the nets in good repair.Apostles They not only looked for the best times to cast their nets, but they spent quite a bit of time tending their nets, making sure there were no places where legal size fish could escape. And of course they were constantly checking their boat to make sure everything was in order.

You and I have to do the same. We have to keep our parish and diocese in good repair. Not just the buildings and grounds, of course, but our programs and people. We have to train and form seminarians and other pastoral ministers. We have to work hard on the education of our young people. We have to have ways of responding to a variety of needs. We must keep our boats and nets in working condition.

You have a part in that. I am not going to speak about the Annual Catholic Appeal this weekend, but what I want to say is this: The Lord wants his Church - guided by the successor of Peter - to bring in people from all corners. Jesus wants his Church to be Catholic (universal) because he alone can satisfy the deepest needs of every person. To bring souls to Jesus, we must spend time - daily - in in prayer and also do our part to keep the boat and nets in good repair. The readiness is all.

Last Sunday we found encouragement in the fact that it was not easy for the apostles to grasp the difference the Lord’s Resurrection should make in their lives. Today’s gospel reading from John tells us of the conversion that brought this difference in Peter, destined to become the fearless leader of the Twelve. According to this account, the disciples have already been in the presence of the Risen Lord more than once; but - still uncertain what is required of them - they are taking up their old life: ‘I’m going fishing’ ‘We’ll come with you’. Most are slow to recognise Jesus on the shore of the lake; it is the disciple bonded to Jesus by a special love that is the first to do so. And even when they have joined him they hesitate to interrogate him. The whole account underlines the change of heart they still have to undergo.

It is Peter especially who must be converted, if he is to be their leader, when with him they come to know that they are called to be ‘fishers of men’ – with the Lord at their side. Peter is confronted with his threefold denial as Jesus asks him three times, ‘Do you love me?’. Scholars have long discussed the fact that, in this exchange, two different terms for ‘love’ are used. In his first two questions, Jesus uses the word Christian faith came to identify with the New Law brought by Jesus (agapao). When Peter responds evasively, using another less demanding term (phileo), Jesus asks for a third time, now using this less demanding term – as if to say, reminding Peter of his recent failure, ‘Are you really sure that you care for me at all?’ Now Peter is ‘upset’: confronted by his inadequacy he knows that he can only rely on the Lord’s decision to entrust him with a role of leadership, and now he used the word he has been avoiding :‘Lord you know everything; you know I love you’.

We see how well this new trust in the Risen Lord sustains Peter as he faces the Sanhedrin, the very body in the presence of which he had felt intimidated when he betrayed his Master. Unafraid of them now, he has ‘filled Jerusalem’ with his teaching. Now he sees his life, shaped by the Lord’s call, as ‘obedience to God’ – whatever it may cost. He gives his fearless witness to the God of Israel as the one who raised Jesus to be ‘leader and saviour’ – confident that he is supported by ‘the Holy Spirit whom God ; has given to those who obey him’; and he calls those who unjustly put Jesus to death to ‘repentance and the forgiveness of sins’. Now the lessons of the Risen Lord, given on the evening of his resurrection day, have become the charter of his life.

An encouraging memory for each of us in our Easter reflections, as we seek to respond to the call of the Risen Lord in the confusion of our lives. In a trusting acknowledgment of our weakness we shall find our true strength.

 Rt.Rev.Kasomo Daniel

Bishop Kasomo is The Bishop of The Society of St.Peter and Paul (SSPP)