3rd Sunday
of Easter: Year C
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Rev 5:11-14
Jn 21:1-19
I Am Going Fishing
Beloved in Christ, the Gospel
and the first reading of today’s Mass present St. Peter as a disciple who did
not always get it right; but also as a disciple who did not remain the same
after encountering Christ. In the Gospel we hear Peter saying something he
should not have said: “ I am going
fishing”. If you remember, Peter was a fisherman before Jesus called him to
become the leader of God’s Church. On that occasion, Peter had spent all night
fishing and had failed (Luke 5:1-11) and Jesus asked him to leave his old way of
life behind and embrace his new mission. Peter did pretty well until the
Passion of Jesus began. The passion brought Peter confusion and despair. Life
did not make sense to Peter anymore. He even stood before a little girl and
denied Jesus three times.
In our Gospel today, we see
Peter as a disciple who is tired of life, tired of struggling and disappointed in
life even after the resurrection when he had seen the empty tomb. The reality
was that even though Jesus had risen, Peter still experienced pain and suffered
persecution. He and the other disciples were arrested many times, beaten many
times, and were warned by the high priest and the elders that if they did not
shut up but continued to speak in the name of Jesus, they would die. All these
problems made Peter decide to forget about his duty as the leader of the
Apostles in order to return to his old way of life. That is what he meant when
he said: I am going fishing. That
means I am going to my old way of life. I
am going to live my life the way I know best because this Jesus thing is not
working. And the other disciples said,
Yeah, Peter let’s do it. This whole Jesus thing is not working. So they
went fishing.
What was the result of their
action? They failed. These experienced fishermen failed at what they knew how
to do best. It was at this time when their situation got even worse that Jesus (the
God who always saves, the God who knows the pain and suffering of his people,
the God who does not allow his people to grow weary, the God who meets his
people at the point of their needs and brings them new hope) appears to them
and teaches them again that they should not face the problems their own way. It
was as if he is telling them Guys, you
cannot make it own your won. You need me. You have to do it the way I show you.
Then he gives them specific instruction: “Cast
the net again on the right”. When they used the Jesus way, they succeeded. They saw that the Jesus way is always the best way and that without Christ we
fail.
Beloved in Christ, Jesus is
risen but there is still suffering, sickness, depression, confusion, people
graduating but not knowing exactly what is next. They have questions without
answers. There are problems at work and in marriages. There is unemployment, people
dying out of hunger and poverty. There is still lost of dear ones, broken
relationships, persecution, and we still struggle with sinful habits that never
seem to go away. Like Peter and the disciples, you may be tempted to give up on
faith in Christ and begin to look for your own ways of solving your problems.
NO, don’t do that! Our readings today show
us that the resurrection is not meant to take the problems of life away but
rather to teach us how to face and overcome them: Turning to Christ and
allowing him to lead because he is the life giver. That is what Peter leaned
from his encounter with Christ and that is why he is telling us in the first
reading that no matter what is going on in your life right now. IT IS STILL BETTER
TO OBEY GOD THAN TO OBEY YOURSELF.
My brothers and Sisters in Christ,
maybe you are also tired with the problems in your life. But the solution is not
to give up or to look for your own solutions without Christ. The Jesus way is still the best way. God
will make a way, where there seems to be no way…….. so don’t go fishing!
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