John 21, 1-14:
Sunday, 1 May 2022 (3 Easter C)
On this third Sunday of Easter we hear of a new apparition of the Risen Lord to a group of disciples by the lake of Tiberias. After the death of the Lord they have returned to Galilee following the instructions of the Risen Jesus to the women: “Tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me”. They returned to their usual work, fishing. Although the Lord had appeared to them previously in Jerusalem, it seems that the doubts and uncertainty still lingered. They have returned to the nets they left to follow the Lord.
And the Lord appears to them again, at dawn. “They did not know it was Jesus”. But a little more light begins to dawn: “it is the Lord”, John will say. Once again they feel his encouraging presence: “they did not dare to ask him who he was because they knew it was the Lord”. With his presence, with his advice, a new miraculous catch of fish takes place.
On more than one occasion we have felt the sensation of failure, that our strength is weakening, that our faith needs a new push. It is not easy for us to recognise the Risen One in the daily grind. We cannot forget his words, his promise to be with us at all times. He offers us his food: “Come on, have lunch”. He wants us at the beginning of each day to regain the strength lost in vain during the night.
In our lives we need “witnesses of Jesus”, people who like John, with their word and their life, help us to discover the living presence of Jesus, in spite of our experience of weakness. He is present in our midst, in the group of believers (when two or more are gathered in my name, I am there); he offers us his food (take and eat…). This must be the strength that takes us out of discouragement and gives us back the joy of Easter.
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
Do you feel the presence of the Lord?
