Friday April 22, 2022

Octave of Easter Friday

 

There Is No Other Name By Which We Are Saved                                               

All evangelists underline the disciples’ difficulty of recognizing the Risen Lord. First, they do not realize that he is there, and that he is just like a stranger; then, usually as a consequence of a word or action, it dawns on them that it is the Lord; and those who love him most – today John – usually recognize him first. The Risen Lord is quite different in appearance from the Jesus whom they had known before his death and resurrection.

            Though their faith in the resurrection was difficult and slow, still it is the heart of the apostolic preaching: the risen Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and our lives. As with the apostles, he stays with us when we are toiling.

 

First Reading: Acts 4:1-12 

While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up, indignant that these upstart apostles were instructing the people and proclaiming that the resurrection from the dead had taken place in Jesus. They arrested them and threw them in jail until morning, for by now it was late in the evening. But many of those who listened had already believed the Message—in round numbers about five thousand!

The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander—everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: “Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?”

With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: “Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”

 

Gospel: John 21:1-14 

After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how he did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, “I’m going fishing.”

The rest of them replied, “We’re going with you.” They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn’t recognize him.

Jesus spoke to them: “Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?”

They answered, “No.”

He said, “Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens.”

They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren’t strong enough to pull it in.

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Master!”

When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren’t far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it.

Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.” Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn’t rip.

 Jesus said, “Breakfast is ready.” Not one of the disciples dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Master.

Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third-time Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

 

Prayer

Our God and Father,
through our Risen Lord, your Son, Jesus Christ,
you have given us a message of hope
and a person to live for.
Free our faith from triviality and routine
and fill us with his Spirit of courage,
that we may learn to live
with the insecurities of the change of renewal
ever-demanded by the Gospel
and by the needs of the times.
May our Christian living bear witness
to the name of him by whom we are saved,
Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

They knew it was the Lord
Biblical scholars today suspect that this passage in the Gospel was not written by John himself. Many of the words and phrases used do not reflect the literary style of the previous chapters of John. They believe that probably a close disciple of John added this passage to the original text, to address the divisions that had arisen within the community. The letters of John had made it clear that there had been deep division within the community, and some disciples had even left the community [1 John 2:19]. This raised the issue of how to decide who was right.

The references to the charcoal fires are provided twice in John’s gospel. On the night before the Lord’s passion, it was at a fireplace that Peter denied Jesus by saying, “I don’t even know the man” (Matthew 26:72-74). Now in the second occasion, Jesus comes in search of Peter and his company for his reconciliation. It was for the possibility of such reconciliation between God and man that the Word was made flesh! Making connections is God’s work.

The Lord invites him to the banquet of mercy: “Come, have breakfast.” Fish and bread were the menu in an earlier occasion on the mountain side, close by the Sea of Tiberias, when Jesus had fed the crowd, and had later promised them the true bread from heaven. Now, decades later, the community wants to recall and cherish the simplicity and intimacy in the Risen Lord who cooks fish on a charcoal fire and invites his friends to have some breakfast. The Risen Lord encounters us in our ordinary situations of daily life.
The frustrations in life lead the apostles return to their former lifestyles for a while. The author must be referring to the frustrations in the Church and many of them leaving the community. But their work out in the sea is in the dark and gets no results. But when they agree on the voice of the Lord, the catch was huge after a disappointing night.
This is not the experience of Peter alone – rather Peter’s experience is the experience of the Community. When tragedies or miseries struck us down, we may have doubted the presence of Jesus in our lives and may have run away from him. There might have been occasions when we left the community and the Church for a while. Despite our infidelity, Jesus extends his mercy, love and acceptance. He returns kindness for evil, love and forgiveness for our doubts and denials.
The disciples didn’t need to ask him, “Who are you?” Who else could bring them reconciliation around a meal?! They knew He was the Lord. The author wants to reiterate the invisible and continuous presence of Jesus amidst the disappointments and frustrations that the community experiences in its life in faith.

 

Video available on Youtube: They knew it was the Lord