We return again to the reading of the Road to Emmaus pericope that we heard less than two weeks ago. This rich record is certainly worth many readings because there is within its telling so much contained in its depths that one, two, or three readings is nowhere near sufficient.

Jesus comes upon Cleopas and another disciple heading away from Jerusalem feeling devastated because not only had their teacher been brutally crucified but their hopes of him truly being the Messiah were also dashed.

During their discussion, an interesting point arises when they begin to discuss why they were leaving Jerusalem. Cleopas mentions that some women and some of the other disciples had confirmed that the tomb was empty on the third day since the death of Jesus. Cleopas and the other disciple were certainly close enough to the inner circle of the Apostles to know Mary Magdalene and the Twelve to be in hiding with them after the crucifixion.

This also meant that they knew Jesus pretty well. They had to have heard on more than one occasion either from Jesus himself or the other Apostles that Jesus would rise again on the third day. Why then did they leave after hearing the tomb was empty? Wouldn’t they want to find out if what Jesus said about his Resurrection was actually true? Last week we read about how Thomas was away when Jesus reappears to the Apostles. Did he leave with Cleopas and the other disciple, could Thomas have been the other disciple?

There were those like Mary, Peter, and John who stayed in Jerusalem, while at the same time we know about Thomas, Cleopas, and another disciple who had left, even after hearing about the empty tomb. Jesus was clear in what he taught about his coming back on the third day, just as he was when he told his followers that they would eat his flesh and drink his blood. People left then as well.

How many times have we given up or given in just when what we had been waiting for or working for would have been fulfilled? We may never know. Fortunately, for Cleopas and the other disciple that we read about this week and Thomas last week, Jesus was willing to reach out to them a second time. They heard his words about the Resurrection but they did not grasp or comprehend the full meaning of what Jesus meant.

The same is often true of us. Jesus invites us to follow him as he did the others, as he does with all of humanity, yet we often do not understand or fully appreciate the fullness of what Jesus is offering. Until we are able to relate to and value the deeper meaning and worth of what it means to truly develop a relationship with Jesus and be a follower of his, we will not be willing to invest our time and commitment. The Good News is that Jesus did not give up on Thomas or Cleopas nor will he give up on us. One day we too will also be able to exclaim with joy, “The Lord has truly been raised,” and our life we never be the same.

Painting: The Supper at Emmaus by Rembrandt 1648

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 26, 2020

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). Jesus is once again claiming who he is: Kyrios – Lord. The word, gospel, comes from the Greek word, euangelion, meaning good news, but the one who proclaimed this good news during the time of Jesus was the emperor. Caesar would send his emissaries to announce such things as a great victory or his birthday. What Mark conveys in the very first line and here at the ending of his Gospel, is that Jesus is Lord! Not Kaiser Kyrios, but Jesus Kyrios!!!

This is true for us as well. Whenever we are dismissed from Mass, one of the dismissal lines I use most often is, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” This is to echo the command of Jesus for all of us to proclaim the Gospel in our everyday experiences and encounters.

We are able to proclaim the Gospel first and foremost by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord. He has risen! He has risen indeed! He is the firstborn of the new creation. This is something to get excited about, something to fill us with joy. We are an Alleluia People, not a Grumpy Gus people. Once we remind ourselves what we believe, who we believe in, and whose we are, then we are bettered prepared to engage with others.

The most powerful witness we can offer is when we seek opportunities to act, speak about and engage others with kindness and joy. When we catch the eye of another offer a smile. We can also say hello, a nod of our head, or offer a wave. Unfortunately, during our present pandemic, the simple engagement of a handshake, a fist bump, a high five, or a hug, must be relegated to the virtual realm for the time being. We do need to be aware of other’s boundaries and space at the same time. If someone is not open, we need to respect their boundaries, as we are not giving of ourselves to get kindness in return.

We reach out to others to acknowledge their dignity and value. This is the simplest, yet most profound way to spread the Gospel, which really means to share the love of Jesus, meaning we seek to will their good. We are to accept and accompany others as Jesus does with the purpose of building relationships. We are more inviting when we are willing to be patient and gracious in our interactions with each person we meet because we will never really understand what another may be struggling with. As we encounter others, we are to also remember the common courtesy of saying please, thank you, and I forgive you, whether in a store, restaurant, bank, convenience store, on the sidewalk, in traffic, or online. Remember God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason because it is better to listen first and speak second.

Especially now, with the world on edge and anxious more than ever, believing in Jesus, embracing his love and message, and putting into practice each of these seemingly small actions with great love is a wonderful way to begin to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). I might add, “every creature” is in this statement. All of the above applies to animals and plants as well as people.

Photo credit: Jose Luis Ruiz Gomez – cathopic.com

Link for the Mass reading for Saturday, April 25, 2020

The feeding of the five thousand that we encounter in today’s Gospel from John is reported in each of the four Gospels. The only other incident that is recorded in all four is the Resurrection accounts. This point is relevant because biblical scholars look to the multiple attestation theory as one means as to whether an account in the Gospel record is more or less plausible. Having the same account in each of the four then would be strong evidence for the likelihood of that event really happening.

From a different perspective, there are those that embrace scientism meaning that they will not believe in anything that can not be measured, experimented upon, or proven within the realm of the five senses. For those ascribing to this strict interpretation, religion and accounts of miracles are often dismissed as superstition, that if something indeed did happen, there is a scientific explanation to dismiss the miraculous. Even some believers may discount the record of the feeding of the five thousand as more of a symbolic representation of the generosity and service encouraged by Jesus such that everyone gave their small share and there was enough for all, not that he actually was able to multiply the bread and fish.

These perspectives of downplaying the miracle of multiplication seek to reduce or limit Jesus to just his humanity, but he is so much more. Jesus is human, fully human, yes, but he is also fully divine. Coming to understand the wonder of the unity of the divinity and humanity of Jesus can help us better understand the reality of our world and cosmos. One of the core aspects of who we are as human beings is that we are people of wonder. The physical sciences are tools that we have in our toolbox that we can access to help us to understand our physical realm, while at the same time we also have spiritual tools that aid us in understanding both physical and spiritual realities. I would argue that the physical sciences actually emerge precisely because of our spiritual pursuit to understand the wonders of God’s creation. In accessing both faith and reason, we come to have a broader picture, more pieces of the puzzle in which to put together and better experience our world.

When we limit or explain away the miracles of Jesus we rob ourselves of a more accurate picture of the reality of creation. One concrete example of this is when our third president, Thomas Jefferson, took a sharp object and painstakingly cut out verses from the Bible and pasted them to blank pages. He did so in columns of Latin and Greek on one side of the paper and French and English on the other. This eighty-four-page tome is commonly called the Jefferson Bible, but the president titled it: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. This text offers a human portrayal of Jesus that dismisses anything divine.

If we remove ourselves from the divine, and 99.9% of our life, experience, interests, and thought is spent in the finite material realm, we will miss a deeper expression of who we are as human beings and much of the joy and gift of life. It stands to reason also that we would find it hard to believe in miracles, the mystical, the spiritual. I cannot attest to all the miracles recorded in the Gospels, but I do believe in a greater majority of them and see in the miracles, not a self-aggrandizing move on Jesus’ part, but a move of love and empathy. Jesus is moved, time and again, to reach out in love, to care for and support those who are in need. As we read in today’s account of the feeding of the five thousand he is showing what living life to the full is all about: being in communion with God and one another.

We need to resist the temptation to write off too quickly the miracles of Jesus. May we also not dismiss the gift and value of the sciences. By approaching our world with a both/and approach, we will get a better understanding of our world, while at the same time, come to embrace the wonder of creation and who we are. God has imparted within us, as human beings, the ability to access and develop both our faith and reason, to think critically, and to pray and meditate deeply.

Jesus as the firstborn of the new creation embodies the reality of the fullness of who we are called by God and in the depths of our souls, aspire to be, human and divine. Jesus is still present to us today, knocking on the doors of our hearts, minds, and souls. If we only follow the moral and social teachings of Jesus, as did Thomas Jefferson, we will experience some benefit but we will limit ourselves because we will be cutting out the very life force that sustains those virtues we hope to aspire to. We will access the fullness of all that Jesus offers us when we open the door to Jesus this Easter Season. Let him in and offer the little we have and watch how much he can multiply our simple gifts.

May we continue to journey together, to read and pray together the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. May we resist rejecting outright what we do not understand or comprehend, and instead be willing to ponder the wonders of miracles, the gift of God’s grace building on nature, the reality of God-incidences all around us, and embrace the eternal foundation and ground of our being which is the  Trinitarian Love of God.

Painting: The Head of Christ (No 3), Rembrandt, 1640’s

Link to the Mass readings for Friday, April 24, 2020

The question that arises and is foremost regarding Christianity above all else is, “Who is Jesus?” How this is answered has a lot to do with what we believe. John the Baptist addresses this question to his disciples, who are concerned that Jesus is growing in popularity over and above John. In today’s Gospel, we read that John shares his understanding of Jesus as, the one who “comes from above” and the one who “comes from heaven is above all”; this one “testifies to what he has seen and heard” and he is sent by God to speak “the words of God”; he is also generous in that he “does not ration the gift of the Spirit”; and the Son is loved by the Father and God “has given everything over to him”.

John declares in each of these phrases that Jesus is the Son of God who has come from above, he has come to reveal the truth about the Father and is able to do so because he has seen and has an infinite relationship with him. He preaches the Gospel, the Good News, that God loves us, that he seeks and has always sought, to be in communion with us, his created beings. Jesus has come to reveal the Love of the Father and that his love is unlimited.

The proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah, is not just revealed in the Gospel of John, but each of the three other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as the epistles. Jesus, as the Son of God, is also the key to unlocking the Hebrew Scriptures, and we can see how the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings all point to Jesus as well. Jesus shared this outline of salvation history with Cleopas and the other disciple on the road to Emmaus, such that their hearts were burning within them while Jesus spoke and opened the scriptures to them (cf. Lk 24:32).

John the Baptist gets it. Jesus is the Son of the Living God and he offers a model for us to follow when he shared with his disciples: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). May we spend some time in quiet reflection today by pondering the phrases John shares with his disciples regarding who Jesus is. Which one calls to you?

“The one who comes from above is above all.”
“The one who comes from heaven is above all.”
“He testifies to what he has seen and heard.”

“For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.”
“He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”
“The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”

When we have finished, what is our response to John? Do we disobey or discount that Jesus is who he says he is or do we “accept his testimony” and “certify that God is trustworthy”? If we “accept his testimony”, are we willing to decrease, such that he will increase his influence in our life. Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?

Painting: Christ Blessing (‘The Savior of the World’), by El Greco, 1600

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, April 23, 2020

Jesus continues his conversation with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel from John. In the opening verse, Jesus outlines why he came into the world: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God has created us out of love and shepherds us out of love. God loves what he has created, and in his order and timing, he sent his Son to enter humanity to become one with us, to heal us and invite us to come out of the shadows and dark recesses of turning in upon ourselves, from living in fear and sin, and to come home to God.

Loving means to risk being rejected. Jesus entered humanity as we all did, in the utter vulnerability of the womb. His very life was at risk from the moment of conception. Mary, a young woman,  betrothed to Joseph, in a time and culture in which a woman found to be with child and not from her husband, could be stoned to death. Mary could have made a different choice, Joseph could have made a different choice, but both of them chose to follow the will of God. They resisted the temptation to close in upon themselves and make an isolated decision based on their own needs, anxieties, and fears. While all of creation held its collective breath, Mary and Joseph trusted God, they chose the light, they chose to protect life.

“Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (Jn 3:18). Jesus did not come to condemn, he came to redeem, to save, to love us into eternity. For love to be real, it must be truly free. Free to the full extent that it can be rejected. To love is to risk rejection. Otherwise, what is experienced by the other is coercion, manipulation, pressure, but not love. The Son of God entered the womb of Mary risking rejection by her, Joseph, and/or their extended family. The only difference between Jesus in the womb and Jesus who ministered to those on the margins was that he was smaller and more vulnerable. Those who, like Mary and Joseph, believe will come to have eternal life, and those who do not have already been condemned, not by God but by themselves.

Those rejecting God have been invited to receive his love also, but for reasons they may or may not be aware of say no. We who follow Jesus are to be his presence of love among those we encounter, even those who shy away or reject him. We may be the only Bible someone ever reads. We are not to protect only the vulnerability of the unborn, but those who have been born as well. We as Christians are not just pro-birth, but we are also pro-life. That means that each of us has a charism of who we are called to reach out to and touch with the love of Jesus, to be present to those who God brings into our lives. We can think, speak, and act by respecting the dignity of each person we encounter, in-person and online, supporting a consistent ethic of life from the moment of conception until natural death.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). We, even in our brokenness, imperfections, and sin, are loved by Jesus. We can reject or accept his love. As Pope Francis wrote: “We are called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.” As we receive and experience the love of Jesus, may we seek to love every person we encounter as he loved us. If there are those that we might not necessarily include in everyone, may we be willing to allow Jesus to love them through us.

Photo: My maternal grandparents, Helen and Bernard Morcus, models of love for me

Link for article on Gaudete et Exultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”):
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/pope-francis-new-exhortation-jesus-wants-us-be-saints

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Jesus continues to teach Nicodemus and with these words, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man” (Jn 3:13), Jesus expresses the truth about who he is, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. From all eternity and for all eternity the Son is begotten not made. The Son has always existed with the Father and at the appropriate time, the Father called and sent his Son to be one with us so that we can become one with him.

We have been loved into existence by the outpouring of the love between God the Father, God the Son and the Love that is shared between them, God the Holy Spirit. This Son, the second person of the Trinity is the one who entered into our humanity. He came to invite us back to himself, to show us where we have strayed, so that we may correct the course of our journey back to who we have been created to be. We have been created to be in communion with God and one another.

Jesus, the Son of God became incarnate, took on flesh, and entered into our human condition that we would be deified, transformed into the very life of God by our participation in the life of Christ. This is why Jesus tells Nicodemus that we are to be born from above because through our baptism we are born again as sons and daughters of God the Father. The one who has come down from heaven has, as St Irenaeus wrote, “opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.”

Our life is about being willing to be loved into existence and to love in return. Our life is a gift given to us by God such that we can receive his love and share it with others. During these present uncertain times, we are given an opportunity to be more aware of what is important to us. It is in times like these that we are given a chance to appreciate and grow closer to our family and friends, as well as begin to be more aware of those who are in dire need.

The gift of all life is precious. We need to resist taking this precious gift for granted, and love others today in our own special and unique way, as Jesus has loved us from the beginning, more than we can ever imagine and more than we can ever mess up! Just as the sun shines on the good and bad alike, so God loves each one of us with a love that is beyond our understanding.

Photo: A view from my Monday evening walk

Link for the Mass readings for today, Tuesday, April 21, 2020

In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, we are presented with Nicodemus “a teacher of Israel” struggling to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born from above.” Jesus attempted to clarify for Nicodemus with an analogy of the wind, yet this still did not help. Jesus went on to explain how much of a problem it was if Nicodemus and the leaders of Israel did not understand things that are concrete and plainly in view: “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”

Thinking at that point that Jesus would soften his message he instead deepened his discussion, talking about how no one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, that the same Son of Man would be lifted up as Moses lifted up a snake in the desert, and God sent his only Son so that all might have eternal life. If Nicodemus’ head wasn’t already spinning with Jesus’ born from above statement, the follow-up statements would have really done it.

What Jesus conveyed to Nicodemus, his Apostles, and disciples, as well as anyone in earshot, and ongoing for generations up to us this present day is that Christianity is not Gnosticism, some secret sect of knowledge that is past on for a select, elite few. Neither is Christianity a form of dualism or Manicheism such that our body and all that is material are bad and we need to shed the physical as soon as possible to attain the fullness of our potential through the absolute embrace of the spiritual only. Nor is Christianity Pelagianism, where we just need the proper discipline, will power, and persistence to follow the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus offers us a universal invitation for all to “be born from above”, which means to be baptized in his name, to follow him into his death, to die not to our material self, but our false sense of self, to our sin, our pride, that attitude and disposition that strives to set apart, diminish, devalue, dehumanize and polarize, and to rise with him. In being born from above, we receive the offer of divinity and so, instead of rejecting our humanity, embrace the fullness of our humanity. The grace of God builds on our nature, the goodness of the creation he has made and formed into existence with his love. We accomplish this the same way Mary, the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Nicodemus did. We answer the call to holiness and sanctity. We say yes to Jesus and give him all we are and recognize all that we have is a gift from God the Father.

Day by day we are to accept to be lead by the hand of Jesus, the firstborn of the new creation and participate with him by offering our hand to others. May we resist the temptation to put up barriers, to keep others at arm’s length. We are all, every one of us, invited to become saints through our participation in the life of Jesus.

I agree with Pope Francis who in his exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), that we cannot “claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties. Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life.”

God is present in our life. May we embrace the gift of our baptism, so to understand what Jesus was teaching Nicodemus, that we have been born from above. Through our dying and rising in Christ, we have better access and a share in the breath and life of the Holy Spirit. In this way, we are transformed and made new by the Holy Spirit, the very Love of God. This is a gift to be shared so that we all may draw deeply from this spring of living water.

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Painting: Nicodemus talking to Jesus, William Brassey Hole

Link for the article on “Rejoice and Be Glad”:
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/pope-francis-new-exhortation-jesus-wants-us-be-saints

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 20, 2020

The disciples locked themselves in a room fearing further persecution from the Jewish leadership. Jesus was crucified and as their followers, they believed that they would be next. They were also ashamed of having turned away from Jesus during his time of dire need. Amidst this heavy weight of fear, despair, and shame, Jesus “came and stood in their midst”. Their reaction of amazement and fear of Jesus’ judgment could only just begin to form in their minds because as Jesus came and stood in their midst he said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus forgave them for their betrayal. He did not rub their nose in their shame or say that he had told them so. Jesus came among them and immediately bestowed upon them his mercy. He then commissioned them to be his Apostles as he said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” As Jesus is the Son of God, he has the power to forgive, and he is now sending his Apostles to be bearers of his forgiveness and mercy as he works through them.

Thomas, though not present on this first encounter, is present the following week and seeing the marks on Jesus’ hands and his side, he too believed, saying, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas too, even though initially doubting the resurrection of Jesus, became an agent of mercy and reconciliation.

Today, we still have access to the gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness instituted by Jesus as is recorded in today’s Gospel of John. This is a gift of healing made available to each of us, like the Eucharist, so that we may continue to experience Jesus, our Lord, and our God, working in our life. When we come to the priest, we are coming to those, who in an unbroken apostolic succession, have continued to be bearers of Jesus’ forgiveness and mercy. It is to Jesus, through our priests, that we confess, and that we hear the words of and receive absolution.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, may we spend some quiet time with today’s Gospel and imagine ourselves in the locked room with the disciples. Experience Jesus appearing in our midst as he says, “Peace be with you!” Allow the radiating light of his mercy and forgiveness to wash over and through our whole being. Let us call to mind those sins that have kept us bound, visualize them as words floating up and out of us and dissipating in the radiance the white and red rays emanating from the merciful heart of Jesus. May we allow ourselves to be transformed by the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

Having been reconciled and healed, Jesus sends us out to practice mercy and forgiveness with others. May we react less and breath deeply more. Instead of adding fuel to the fire of negativity, let us seek to be an advocate for healing and reconciliation. May we also take some time today to think of someone who could benefit from the presence of Jesus through our being present to them, someone who may need “to hear God’s good news of forgiveness and love” (Francis, 25). We are not able to absolve someone of their sin, but we can forgive, make an effort to reach out to others in prayer and in person, and allow the love and mercy of Jesus to flow through us to those in our midst. Alleluia!

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Close up of painting by Robert Skemp. “Have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

McCann, Deborah. 30 Days of Reflections and Prayers: What Pope Francis Says About Mercy. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2015.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 19. 2020

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, 16:9-16, is commonly called, “The Longer Ending.” Most ancient manuscripts of Mark end at 16:8. Whether this Gospel ended there or the original ending was lost is not definitively known. Many biblical scholars also recognize in these verses a different writing style, so attribute this longer ending to a different author. This ending recounts that Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus met the risen Jesus. When both Mary and the two disciples share their experiences with the eleven, they are not believed, and “later, as the eleven were at table, he [Jesus] appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart”

How many times had Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for being hard of heart? Now he is saying the same to the eleven for not believing the accounts of Mary and the two disciples. We do not have a reason for their unbelief and maybe that is well and good because that gives us the opportunity to ponder for ourselves when has someone brought us a message from Jesus and we responded to them with hard hearts and were unbelieving? Are there certain people we would not believe no matter what good news they had to share with us?

Jesus does not belabor the point. His rebuke helped them to see that as his followers their hearts needed to be open to him working through others, as he told John when someone was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, “whoever is not against us is for us” (cf. Mk 9:40).

Christianity is not a secret sect, it is a universal call and proclamation meant to be shared with all. We are celebrating this Easter Octave, and we continue to do so each year, the fullness of the Paschal Mystery, that the Son of God became incarnate, entered into our human condition, lived, suffered, and died, conquered death, and rose again, for all of humanity and creation.

This was no mere resuscitation. Jesus conquered death and became the firstborn of the new creation and invites us to participate in his reign of the kingdom of heaven. This is the Good News he wanted his eleven to proclaim when he said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).

Jesus is calling us to do the same, as brothers and sisters, working in solidarity, not for a select few in our pew, but for all in our realm of influence. We are to build relationships by bringing the light, joy, and love of Jesus to each individual that we meet, person to person. Let us also be open to God working through others and receive his message from them as well! Alleluia!!!

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Photo: CN class of 2104 and now many graduates from college!

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 18, 2020

There are a handful of incidents in today’s Gospel reading from John that refer back to encounters Jesus had with his Apostles before his death and resurrection. Jesus waits on the shore as seven of his disciples; Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others, return from a night of fishing. This is reminiscent of when Jesus first came to Andrew and Simon, James and John as they were casting and mending nets and he invited them to follow him.

The disciples are on their way back to shore with their nets empty, and Jesus suggests that they cast their net over the right side and they quickly find that they “were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.” Peter had this experience in one of his first encounters with Jesus when he had been fishing all night and Jesus encouraged him to put out into the deep water, and that time they were able to fill two boats with fish.

After their great catch “of one hundred fifty-three large fish,” John told Peter that the Lord was the one who had instructed them. Just as when Jesus approached his disciples that night walking on the stormy waters, Peter jumped out of the boat and walked on water until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Peter again “jumped into the sea.” When Peter and the disciples came to shore “they saw a charcoal fire.” The most recent event with another charcoal fire was outside the gate where Jesus was led for his judgment. To keep warm Peter joined the servants and slaves huddled around a charcoal fire. It was at that charcoal fire that Peter denied Jesus. The final scene in today’s account was when Jesus offered cooked fish and bread to his disciples, this is reminiscent of Jesus feeding the five thousand with two loaves and a few fish.

Throughout our lives, we will have encounters with people and experience incidents that we have experienced before. We may not have been as present as we have wanted to be when attempting to comfort someone, we may have given in to temptation we regretted, or we may have been involved in some task and made a mistake, just as Peter had denied Jesus three times at that charcoal fire. Peter wept when he heard the cock crow. The sound brought back Jesus’ prediction, brought to light Peter’s own denial and cowardice. How many times must he have berated himself, as we have done when we have sinned, fallen short of our goals, or made mistakes?

Making mistakes and taking risks, are necessary for learning and growing in any endeavor in life. Jesus does not want us to beat ourselves up when we fall short or fail. What is required for maturation is an honest assessment of the situation, an acknowledgment of our mistakes and sins, and then a movement to correct and learn from them. Often we overcompensate in the beginning, but as we remain persistent we reach a healthy balance.

A concrete example of this was my first experience with bowling. The first time I walked on the lane, took aim, and released the ball, I threw it into the left gutter, and then the next throw went into the right gutter. Eventually, my adjustments were less drastic and I was able to strike more pins than hurl my ball into the gutter. The same is true for our everyday lives.

Jesus returns to be with his disciples after his resurrection, he meets them in very similar settings as he had before his death. All of his disciples failed him, yet Jesus did not condemn them. Jesus helped to show them how far they have come since he first called them, while at the same time helping them to see how far they still have to go to actualize their potential. Jesus is not only their teacher but the divine source of their own transformation.

Jesus guides and empowers us with his love and encouragement, to help us to move beyond our own self, so hopefully, we will be a little more present to someone the next time we are in a position to provide comfort or understanding, have greater resolve when tempted, and be able to identify our sins and mistakes as well as learn from them.

Jesus has risen again, appeared to his disciples to guide, encourage, and empower them to be who God has called them to be. Jesus offers us the same teaching, guidance, and power shared from the wellspring of his humanity and divinity that we will be able to also access when we choose to accept the free gift of his grace and participate in his life. Our repentance and Jesus’ forgiveness go beyond helping us to become better people. Through the love of Jesus, our minds, hearts, and souls change, we are transfigured, and conformed to Jesus and his life of resurrection. This is good news to share not only in word but in deed. Alleluia!!!

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Photo credit: Roman Pohorecki from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 17, 2020