First Reading - Acts 5:27-32,40-41 ©
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
29(30):2,4-6,11-13 ©
Second Reading - Apocalypse 5:11-14 ©
Gospel Acclamation – Luke 24:32
The Gospel According to John 20:1-19
©
(NJB)
Listen!
The
sentiments expressed by the apostle
are wrong.
It was the Romans who executed Jesus not the
Sanhedrin or the leadership of Israel in Jerusalem. The leadership in Judea may
have set him up, but first he was betrayed by one of his disciples and then he
was to death by the Romans.
In the cosmic sense it was not the Jews who
executed Jesus, neither was it the Romans, nor was it God; it was the whole of
humanity, it was our collective spirit, it was our sinful nature that was the
cause of Jesus’ death…we do not need to look for anyone else to blame.
The forgiveness we seek for that and all of
our sins must come from us; we must be reconciled with ne another, to one
another. It must come from us, if we are to have peace in this world.
In order to prepare ourselves to be forgiven
we must accept responsibility for the individual roles we play in the tragedy
of the human race.
Be mindful.
Jesus is not the conduit for the forgiveness
we seek, neither was his death; he was a facilitator. He preached that we are
one creation, that all people are held together by the grace of the Holy Spirit…it
is the duty of all Christians to speak the truth and do the same
It is our task to speak truth to the powerful,
while not allowing ourselves to be puffed up with as we do it (as the apostles
often were). Pride shrouds the truth in vanity,
Know this!
God, the creator of the universe, God will not
intervene in our affairs. God will not lift us neither will God strike us down;
we know this because God made us free, which includes freedom from divine
coercion. God is not angry and wrathful when we stray from the way, we
know this because God loves you, and God’s love endures forever.
Remember.
Jesus was not a sacrificial victim; God never
desired animal sacrifice, preferring mercy over the blood feast at the altar, preferring
mercy to the aroma of burning fat that feeds the greed of the priestly class. Jesus
was not the Lamb; God did not cal for his slaughter…his killing was a political
murder.
Jesus accepted death at the hands of his
persecutors for the sake of his friends and family, as well as the broader
community of his followers. If had had resisted his people would have followed
him and the consequences for them would have been terrible...Jesus knew this
and said, “No greater love can a person have than that they give their life for
the sake of their brother or sister.”
Jesus accepted his death sentence this in the
ordinary sense, though it was an extraordinary deed; he did what he did it for
ordinary reasons; he did it for love.
What made Jesus’ death extraordinary was the
way in which it has been remembered, and how the memory of that event has been transmitted
from generation to generation, all around the globe, even though its natural
and ordinary meaning has been lost to myth.
Remember this!
God, who we see in Jesus; God has no desire
for power and glory, for honor and riches, God does not sit on a throne, God is
not a king, and neither was Jesus…in the light of the liturgy these truths are
easy to forget.
In the years that followed the Gospel writers
became confused with questions about who Jesus was, about how he (and by
extension they) ranked among the prophets, about his historical connection to
Moses, about the proof of his ministry that was given in the sacred text before
him.
They became confused because their vanity led
them astray. In their confusion they began to make up stories that validated
their claims, it was unnecessary, and it distorted the teachings of Jesus.
Understand this.
Jesus did not perform miracles to prove that he
was a child of God, rather, he stressed the fact that we are all the children
of God, even the leper and the thief, the unmarried woman and the outcast.
Jesus did not come to work magic, or give
signs and perform wonders, we know that Jesus did not come to do that because spoke
the truth in his representation of God, and that is not how God works in the
world.
The key to reading the gospel for today is
that his disciples “recognized him in the breaking of the bread.”
They had the opportunity to see Jesus in the
man they encountered on the road, but they did not see him in this stranger. They
had the opportunity to see him in the faith of the woman at the tomb, but they
could not understand it.
They believed in their hearts that Jesus was
dead, and yet the way, which Jesus personified as the living witness of
God’s intention for creation, remained before them, and Jesus was still asking
them to follow.
The disciples were finally able to see Jesus,
and the way, when they broke bread with the stranger whom they had
previously encountered.
They found it in community, in sharing; they found
it through the selflessness of love.
Consider
the Gospel reading for today and ask yourself:
What
does it mean to be a Christian, to be a member of the body of Christ?
What
does it mean to be a disciple, to be a student in the school of faith?
In
the reading for today there are miracles and visions, there are portents and
prophecies, but toward the end there is a moment of instruction.
Jesus
is with Peter; Simon by his given name. They are sitting together after
breakfast in a moment of earnest talk. Jesus knows that he is handing over the
leadership of his movement to this man with whom he often disagreed. Jesus had
rebuked him severely in the past, even calling him Satan…the enemy.
Furthermore,
Peter had abandoned Jesus when he was arrested, and denied him in front of
crowds of people; yet despite those failings, or perhaps because of what Peter
had learned from them, Jesus spoke to him in a loving manner.
Jesus
beseeched Peter to be just as loving toward the community that would grow from
the seeds of faith being planted there and then…the seeds of trust that the two
of them had planted throughout the course of their ministry together.
In
the same way that Jesus had rebuked Peter three times, and in the same way that
Peter had denied Jesus three times, Peter now confessed his love for Jesus
three times, and Jesus issued the following commission three times:
Feed
my lambs. Look after my sheep, Feed my sheep.
Jesus’
concern, then and always was for the wellbeing of the flock, never for riches, power
and glory, it was for the care and feeding of the people, and Jesus was telling
him that as the leader of the church these were to be Peter’s only concerns from
that day forward
Whoever
does these things lives in the way
that Jesus showed us.
First Reading - Acts 5:27-32,40-41 ©
We are witnesses to all this: we and
the Holy Spirit
The
high priest demanded an explanation of the Apostles. ‘We gave you a formal
warning’ he said ‘not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have
filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt of
this man’s death on us.’ In reply Peter and the apostles said, ‘Obedience to
God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised
up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own
right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and saviour, to give
repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to
all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’
They warned the apostles not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
And so they left the presence of the Sanhedrin glad to have had the honour of
suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
29(30):2,4-6,11-13 ©
I will praise you, Lord, you have
rescued me.
I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O
Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into
the grave.
I will praise you, Lord, you have
rescued me.
Sing
psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His
anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with
dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, you have
rescued me.
The
Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For
me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.
Alleluia!
Second Reading - Apocalypse 5:11-14 ©
The Lamb that was Sacrificed is Worthy
to be Given Riches and Power
In
my vision, I, John, heard the sound of an immense number of angels gathered
round the throne and the animals and the elders; there were ten thousand times
ten thousand of them and thousands upon thousands, shouting, ‘The Lamb that was
sacrificed is worthy to be given power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory
and blessing.’ Then I heard all the living things in creation – everything that
lives in the air, and on the ground, and under the ground, and in the sea,
crying, ‘To the One who is sitting on the throne and to the Lamb, be all
praise, honour, glory and power, for ever and ever.’ And the four animals said,
‘Amen’; and the elders prostrated themselves to worship.
Gospel Acclamation – Luke 24:32
Alleluia, alleluia!
Lord
Jesus, explain the Scriptures to us.
Make
our hearts burn within us as you talk to us.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ
has risen: he who created all things, and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
The Gospel According to John 21:1-19
©
Jesus Stepped Forward,
Took the Bread and Gave It to Them, and the Same With the Fish
Jesus
showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it
happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon
Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went
out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.
It
was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did
not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you caught anything,
friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to
starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were
so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to
Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had
practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water.
The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were
only about a hundred yards from land.
As
soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a
charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you
have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore,
full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there
being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have
breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they
knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and
gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus
showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.
After
the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more
than these others do?’ He answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said
to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do
you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him,
‘Look after my sheep.’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do
you love me?’ Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love
me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘Feed my sheep.
‘I
tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked
where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and
somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not
go.’
In
these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to
God. After this he said, ‘Follow me.’
The Third Sunday of Easter (Year C)
