One way to look at the readings throughout the Easter Season is to reflect on the word “relationship.” Our relationship to the Risen Jesus, our relationship to the Church, our relationship to our brothers and sisters. In these readings for the Easter Season, we witness the growth of a relationship we are all called to embrace. The readings speak of the meaning of discipleship both in our internal attitudes and in our relationships with other people.
Today’s Gospel and, to some extent, the Second Reading speak of recognizing the presence of God and of Jesus in our daily lives while the First Reading calls us to witness to our faith with consistency and courage. One flows from the other. To be a genuine disciple of Jesus, it is not enough just to be “holy”, to be good, but to have the courage, when the call comes, to do difficult things and perhaps even to suffer.
As we see, this relationship takes time to grow and mature. The Gospel reading implies that Jesus’ disciples had left Jerusalem; left the upper room experiences and had gone all the way back to their native Galilee to resume their former way of life as fishermen. The previous three years had been an interesting and even exciting interlude in their lives, but now they were back to what they had always been doing.
Then, early in the morning, after fishing all night and catching nothing, a stranger on the shore begins a conversation—enters into a relationship—He says, “have you caught anything?” Reluctantly, the fishermen admit they got nothing. He tells them, “drop your nets on the right side of the boat and you’ll find something.” They did so and they were overwhelmed. There were so many fish that they simply could not be taken into the boat.
It is at that moment a disciple cries out: “It is the Lord!” And, we are told “None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew quite well it was the Lord.” This is something they have to learn. And, this is something we have to learn as well–the Risen Jesus does not look as he used to look. We experience this with the disciples in the Upper Room, on the road to Emmaus and in today’s reading.
Jesus from now on has many faces: my friend, my enemy, my rich neighbor, my poor neighbor. He is especially to be found and recognized in the poor, the exploited, the handicapped, the weak, the uneducated, the stranger, the foreigner… Jesus has a Jewish face, a Chinese face, an Indian face, a Filipino face, a Rwandan face, an Arab face, an American face. We must remember–Christianity can never become a religion of insiders because it is precisely in the outsider that Jesus is to be found.
And, like the disciples, we must come to recognize him not just at privileged moments of high spiritual experiences, but in the most mundane moments of our daily lives.
There is, however, a further step demanded of us. It is not enough for us, in our own lives, to be aware of Risen Jesus’ presence among us. That realization calls for a response on our part to make that presence a felt reality, a genuine experience for those around us as well.
The disciples could not simply stay in the upper room relishing the joy of knowing that Jesus, their Lord and friend, was risen. Their encounter on the lakeside made them realize that they could no longer go back to their boats and live for themselves. Even for Peter, the bravado is gone.
He does not dare to compare himself with his fellow disciples. Now, he only speaks for himself: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
And, of course, it was true. It was always true, even when out of fear for his own safety, Peter denied Jesus. He had wept bitterly at that time, realizing how he had betrayed his best friend. Like Peter, most of our sins are moments of weakness and do not represent a real turning away from the Risen Lord.
However, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter is more than a moment of reconciliation for Peter. It is the Risen Lord’s call to discipleship—“feed my lambs,” “tend my sheep,” “feed my sheep.” This is now the responsibility of the Church and, as members of that Church, a responsibility that rests with every one of us. It is not just bishops, priests, deacons or religious who have this responsibility. It is the responsibility of each of us in our daily lives—we are now the disciples of our Risen Lord.
The disciples now had to go back to Jerusalem where they began to proclaim what Jesus’ life, words, actions, suffering, death and rising to life meant for them and for everyone else as well. This we see recorded in the First Reading from the Acts. The joy they had, the new meaning that had come into their lives because of their encounter with Jesus simply had to be shared with others. As we must do as well.
If we are to truly be disciples of Jesus, if we are to proclaim our faith in its fullness, we must challenge ourselves to bring the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection to all people—even put ourselves in very uncomfortable situations. Yes, we need the courage, the fortitude, the hope to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now.
We are an Easter people and as such, and especially during this Year of Mercy, we are called to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the imprisoned, visit the sick, bury the dead, comfort the sorrowful, pray for the living and the dead, forgive offenses willingly, bear wrongs patiently, counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant and the sinner. This is what the Easter Season is all about– living our lives thankful for the Risen Jesus—sharing his love and his mercy with all people.
I would like to share with you a prayer attributed to Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman which beautifully expresses what we have been considering. He says:
Dear Jesus,
Help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may be only a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every person I come in contact with will feel your presence in me.
Let them look up and see, not only me, but also Jesus.”
Amen