THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
5 MAY 2019
The
images on our Triumphal Arch make preaching easy this Sunday. On the right, we see the charcoal fire
burning, with black smoke. It is at that
fire by which Peter is warming himself in the courtyard of the high priest’s
house. As Jesus, his master and teacher,
is being unfairly accused, Peter is gripped by fear. Instead of standing with Jesus, as Peter had
bragged at the Last Supper, he denies knowing him three times. Near that charcoal fire is the cock crowing,
which reminds Peter that Jesus is aware of his triple denial. Convicted by that cock crowing, Peter
realizes the depth of his sin and immediately regrets his actions.
On the left
side of the Triumphal Arch, we see another charcoal fire burning with white smoke. This charcoal fire is set on the shore of the
Sea of Tiberias, where we can see a fishing boat on the lake. It is from this shore that a stranger had
instructed the fisherman in that boat to cast their nets on the right side
after they had caught nothing at all during the night, the prime time for
fishing. From those barren waters comes
a net so full of fish that they have trouble hauling it into shore. Prompted by the Beloved Disciple, who had
believed in the resurrection at the empty tomb, they recognize the stranger as
the risen Christ. Just as he had fed
thousands of people on the shore of that lake with five loaves and two fish, he
now feeds them with bread and fish. In
this event, the disciples begin to understand the implications of Jesus Christ
being raised from the dead. They begin
to understand that raising a man from the dead is similar to raising a net full
of fish at dawn from the same sea that had been barren in the darkness of the
night. They begin to understand that God
never gives up on us. In particular,
Simon Peter understands that sincere repentance brings a mercy and a second
chance he does not deserve.
The risen
Christ asks Peter three times if he loves him.
He does not repeat this question to rub Peter’s sin into his face. Instead, he repeats the question to confront
the damage done by that sin and heal it.
We see the response of Jesus on the left side of the Triumphal Arch,
under the image of that breakfast. Jesus
does not say to Peter, “You really blew it, Peter! I am taking your keys away from you and
giving them to the Beloved Disciple. I’ve
always liked him better than you anyway!”
Instead, he tells the fisherman that he is to be a good shepherd and to tend
his lambs and feed his sheep. Peter and
his successors, all of them flawed sinners, are given the care of the flock
tended by the Good Shepherd, who sits at the top of our Triumphal Arch.
Just as the
Lord fed those disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, so he feeds us
now with bread that will be transformed into his body and wine transformed into
his blood. The Lamb, pictured on the
front of our Altar, reminds us of the truth that Saint John proclaims in the
reading from the Book of Revelation.
Because of the victory won by that Lamb that was slain, we are
reconciled with the Father. We join all
of creation, in heaven and on earth, in praising the victory of the Lamb and
renewing our faith in the power of the resurrection.
The Lord
invites us to imitate the catch of fish and surrender whatever hinders us from
living the new life of the risen Christ.
That is exactly what we see the apostles doing in the reading from the
Acts of the Apostles. Under the power of
the Holy Spirit, they have let go of their old habits of being afraid and
closing their minds to the truth of the message of Jesus Christ. They now proudly and confidently proclaim the
truth of the resurrection, even in the face of threats from the Sanhedrin, the
same group that condemned Jesus to death.
We too can become transformed, if we face our failures and sins
squarely, as Peter did. Once we are
truly repentant and aware of the damage we have done, we too can experience the
Lord’s mercy and tend the sheep entrusted to our care with humility, grace, and
gentleness.
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