THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
10 APRIL 2016
Peter
may not have recognized the risen Lord standing on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee. But as soon as the beloved
disciple points him out, Peter (in his usual impetuousness) dives into the
water and swims to the beach. Peter is
conscious of his own failings, and especially of his triple denial of Jesus in
the high priest’s courtyard. But he also
remembers the three years he had spent with Jesus before everything fell apart. In rushing toward the risen Christ, he trusts
that the truth of his three years of discipleship will not be cancelled by his
three denials. He trusts in the mercy
which he had heard so many times when Jesus was teaching and healing people.
Peter is
not disappointed. Jesus asks him three
times if he loves him, not to rub his face into his denials, but to heal him
and establish him in his position of authority.
If we look at the Greek words, we can understand better what Jesus is
doing. When Jesus asks Peter if he loves
him, he uses the Greek word agape,
which implies a divine, unconditional, totally self-giving love. Peter responds that he loves him, using the
Greek word phileo, which implies a
fraternal love between brothers. Jesus
asks again, do you agape me. Peter responds, yes I phileo you. Peter is being
very honest in his response, admitting that his love does not equal the
incredible love of the risen Christ. So,
Jesus uses the word phileo in his
third question, and Peter answers that yes, he loves (phileo) him.
This
exchange is important to our Easter faith.
The risen Lord has given his entire life out of love to become the Lamb
of God bringing us from the slavery of sin and death to life. He invites the same response from Peter. But, Peter knows his limitations and
remembers his sins. He is only capable
of a lesser kind of love. So, Jesus
takes Peter where he is and establishes him as the leader of those charged with
the mission of catching men and women in the great net of salvation. He does not say to Peter: “ok, you really blew it, and I am making
someone else the first pope!” He says
instead: “In your weakness and fear, you
denied knowing me. But I trust through
the grace of my mercy that you can be transformed.”
We can see
the results of the risen Lord’s trust in Peter in the first reading from the Acts
of the Apostles. Because of his
encounter with the risen Lord and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter is
fearless in proclaiming the truth. He
speaks the truth to the same Sanhedrin that had caused the death of his Lord
and master. As Jesus says at the end of
the Gospel, he will eventually allow others to stretch out his hands and give
his entire life for the sake of the Gospel.
The risen
Lord loves each of us as much as he loved Peter. He knows our weaknesses, just as he knew
Peter’s. He knows that we will deny
knowing him out of fear, just as he told Peter at the Last Supper that he would
deny knowing him. The risen Lord invites
us to be honest about our weaknesses and our bad choices and to accept his
forgiveness, peace, and mercy. He
accepts us where we are, even when we are not capable of the love which he has
given us. He invites us embrace his
risen presence and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. With these two gifts, we can accomplish
amazing things. We cannot do it on our
own, fishing in the dark of night. If we
trust God in the light of dawn, the limits of our love can be transformed. We can learn to forgive those who have denied
or betrayed us. We can give our lives in
humble service.
The risen
Lord fed the disciples with bread and fish in the dawn of that morning on the
shore of the Sea of Galilee. The risen
Lord feeds us with his Body and Blood as we gather today and sends us from this
Mass to proclaim boldly his presence. Like
Peter, we can dive into the depths of our daily lives, trusting in the Lord’s
transforming mercy and transforming power.
With the risen Lord beside us, we can do anything!
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