Third Sunday of Easter
Reflection: How much do you love me?
By SISTER MARY McGLONE
Sixty-two years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Responding to criticism by local clergy, he explained that he had led a peaceful demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, because theirs was the most segregated city in the nation. He told them that “we will have to repent … not merely for the hateful words and actions … but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
He added, “Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of (people) willing to be co-workers with God.”
King could have been echoing Peter and company, who told the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than human beings.”
Peter and Barnabas were in trouble for continuing Christ’s mission in spite of “strict orders” to stop. Of course, this happened after the Holy Spirit had so enthralled and emboldened them that they felt impelled to preach about what God was doing through the risen Christ. Their newfound courage even led them to rejoice, not at being freed from jail, but because persecution assured them that they were carrying on Christ’s mission.
In 1963, King explained that he intended to “create a crisis” dramatizing the evils of segregation so that they could no longer be ignored. By risking their lives for others, the disciples were dramatizing Jesus’ death and resurrection so that people could see concrete evidence of the freedom and new life available in Christ.
As we know all too well, proclamation of Christ led to persecution and martyrdom for people like Sts. Peter, Paul, Perpetua, Felicity, Agnes and their contemporaries — like our own contemporaries King, Medgar Evers, Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, Notre Dame de Namur Sr. Dorothy Stang and countless others.
What convinced these people that their message mattered more than their life? Our Easter Gospels explain that it happened through a process of encounter, love and mission. Today’s Gospel illustrates this process.
John’s Gospel describes each detail of the story to reflect events of Jesus’ life and/or the current situation of his Christian community. This narrative begins with Peter and six others deciding that the hour had come to return to their fishing trade. Their miraculous catch suggests that fishing was fine, but that Christ offered them much more. Peter’s near-naked leap into the sea recalls baptism’s immersion and rising anew. Jesus waiting on shore near a charcoal fire evokes the memory of the fire near which Peter denied knowing Jesus. The fish Jesus was preparing were the exact kind that they all had enjoyed at the miraculous sharing of John 6.
Even with the shout of “It is the Lord!” and the inexplicable catch, the disciples remained uncertain. No one dared to ask, “Who are you?” Their wobbly faith was beginning to get stronger.
In the dialogue between Jesus and Peter, Jesus’ question, “Do you love me?”, serves as both a question and a command. We could interpret Jesus to be saying,” I want you to really love me as who I am, not just your idea of me or what I can do for you.”
He adds, “If you really love me, you will live in me and I in you and you will care for my people with the same love and courage that I have.”
Each time Peter repealed his denials by proclaiming his love, Jesus explained that loving him implied doing what he had done: “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.” The kind of love Jesus sought was not friendship or admiration, but such a profound union in love that Peter would share his passion for doing the Father’s will by giving himself for others.
This evokes the Last Supper discourse when Jesus told his disciples that loving him implied living his command of universal love and his prayer that they would be one in him as he was with the Father (John 13).
This last section of the Gospel of John prompts us to contemplate our own Gospel vocation. Let us call to mind and heart the insights or events that have moved us to express our faith in action, how our work contributes to Christ’s mission, and the meaning of our baptism and communion. We express gratitude for how our faith has been strengthened in mission and vice-versa.
Then, with King, we will not forget that the reign of God is not inevitable but depends on the efforts of those who accept the grace of being coworkers with God. That will continually draw us into the mystery of the resurrection.
Reading I
(Acts 5: 27-32, 40b-41)
When the captain and the court officers had brought the apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
“We gave you strict orders, did we not,
to stop teaching in that name?
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
The Sanhedrin ordered the apostles
to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13)
Reading II
(Rev. 5: 11-14)
I, John, looked and heard the voices of many angels
who surrounded the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and blessing.”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in the sea,
everything in the universe, cry out:
“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever.”
The four living creatures answered, “Amen, “
and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Gospel
(John 21: 1-19)
At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
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.”