Third Sunday of Easter C

April 18, 2010

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41   Psalm:   Revelation 5:11-14  John 21:1-19 or 21:1-14

1. Our Gospel has a very peaceful scene before the Apostles embark on their mission to preach the Kingdom of God. Then as Jesus predicted they will be contradicted and persecuted. They will be thrown in prison. They will be brought before Kings, Rulers and Courts of Justice. But now Jesus will give them the gift of peace and courage for what will like ahead. He does this in the context of a MEAL, which always symbolizes the Eucharist in our present times, and the heavenly banquet in the life here after.

2. We have the Eucharistic overtones in the previous encounters Jesus has when having a meal.

• At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus turns the Water into wine. This wine will be turned into the Blood of Christ at the Last Supper and through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
• At the meal with Simon the Leper, a  sinful woman comes in and washes the feet of Jesus with her tears. It is an occasion where Jesus teaches us about the forgiveness of sins. This is another gift of the Eucharist. In the prayer of consecration over the wine, the words are: this is the blood of the new covenant – shed for us and for all so that sins may be forgiven.
• On the mountain side, Jesus feeds the 5000 thousand with bread and fish that are multiplied. Then Jesus invites the listeners to look beyond the bread they ate and see their Saviour and their God.
• Finally at the Last Supper , after washing the feet of his disciples and making them “all clean”, Jesus gives them the Eucharist for the first time.

3. From the Eucharist, our sins are forgiven. After the breakfast at the seaside of Galilee, Jesus invites Peter to make a triple affirmation of love, by the question, “Peter do you love me, more than all of these.” Peter answers in the affirmative, thus wiping away the shadow that has been hanging over him by the triple denial of Jesus in the courtyard of Annas and Caiaphas. It is not rubbing salts into the wounds of Peter’s failure, but rather an affirmation of Peter and his position among the Apostles.

4. From the Eucharist, we get the Bread of life, which nourishes us just like Elijah was nourished with bread. Strengthened by that food, Elijah travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 1 .Kings 19:8.  We too can walk the symbolic 40 days of (our entire) life, by the strength and courage we get from the Eucharist. 

 We see the courage and strength of the Eucharist in our first reading in the action of the apostles. There is a dramatic change

These men fled in the Garden of Gethsemane

There men denied Jesus

These men hid behind closed doors for fear of the Jews.

Now they are found speaking boldly and with Passion in the Public forum.

Now they are able to stand their ground before the Chief Priests and Sadducees.

Now they are able to give witness to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

The Apostles make a unique declaration, we and the Holy Spirit will proclaim the truth for all who would listen. The Apostles will state that all this is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the same Spirit that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Peter will be the Rock on which the nascent church will flourish and witness to the Good News. In John’s Gospel, Peter will be the shepherd who guides the flock.

From Peter in the gospels, and his successors, - the foundation stone which the builders rejected: Jesus Christ, has been strong – but the vicars, being men have been at times wobbly and indecisive. Sometimes as in the 16^th Century they have been corrupt and scandalous. Yet it is their task as Peter’s successors to hold this flock together, to give us a sense of unity as the Body of Christ.  Sin has divided us – anger, greed, pride, desire for riches and honour, these have become more important that the Body of Christ, which is one.  Sometimes it is embarrassing to admit that we are Catholics, but then Christ always kept shameful company –“see He sits with tax-collectors, prostitutes and sinners.”  And so as Linden MacIntyre says in his book, “The Bishop’s Man:   It is always a mistake to identify too closely with any institution. That might have been our downfall. Losing ourselves inside the vastness of the Holy Mother the Church, forgetting who we are as people – forgetting our personal uniqueness.

Institutions are amoral. We should never loose our touch with our individuality. Once you lose that, you lose touch with the basics: The right and wrong of things. I think we are conditioned to do the right thing as a people, but not as institutions. There is no morality in an institution. It is just a thing.   Words taken from Linden MacIntyre “The Bishop’s Man”

And so with Peter, even when it hurts, we can continue to say: “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.”

Appendix: from “The Bishop’s Man” – the main character: Fr. MacAskill reflects, “So many ... priests are clever, funny men. The freaks are so rare. But they're the only ones I really know. How have I managed to spend twenty -seven years in this ministry and known only the bad ones? Why was I never part of the wider community of funny, clever and perhaps even holy men?”