Friday, April 26, 2019 – Friendship With Jesus

Jesus on the Shore

Wasn’t the gospel reading today awesome? Jesus’s disciples had been fishing all night, but didn’t catch anything. A man called out to them from the shore and asked if they had caught anything?  When they answered no, they didn’t catch any fish, he told them to cast their nets over the right side of the boat and they would find some fish there.  When they cast their nets in the water, they caught so many fish that they couldn’t pull them all into the boat. Then the man on the beach called to them saying, “Come, have breakfast”. They did not recognize him, yet they instinctively knew it was Jesus. Who else would direct them toward a catch of fish so full they could barely drag it ashore?  Then, to top it all off, even cook breakfast for them?

Peter didn’t hesitate when he realized it was Jesus.  He immediately jumped into the sea and swam as fast as he could toward him.  Peter probably never swam so hard and fast in his whole life as he did that morning, when he realized it was Jesus on the shore.  Peter’s love for Jesus was so profound.  No wonder the Lord built his church upon him.

It was sunrise though, and on many lakes it is very still and quiet in the early morning.  Can you picture Jesus watching his disciples from a distance?  The waves were probably ebbing and flowing on the shore, and there was a warm fire with cooked fish and bread on it.  Jesus cooked breakfast for his disciples and even asked them to bring some more fish to him.  He must have wanted to make sure there was plenty for everyone to eat.  Fresh fish just doesn’t get any better than this, to cook them over an open fire and eat them a few minutes after they are caught.  What a generous and loving act it was, that Jesus fixed breakfast for his disciples after a long night of fishing.  They were probably starving after working all night on the boat.

The peace of that morning was probably very profound though. From the sound of the gospel no one really talked much, they just enjoyed Christ’s presence. They probably gathered around the warm fire and shared a wonderfully hot meal together.  Jesus’s act of cooking for his disciples was one of the most loving acts he ever did for them personally, other than washing their feet at the last supper. Jesus loved his disciples, but is it any wonder why they loved him so much?

This was actually the third time Jesus appeared after his death, that his disciples didn’t recognize him.  Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize Jesus outside of the tomb when he first appeared to her.  And, when the two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, Jesus traveled with them the whole time and they didn’t recognize him either.

Why was Jesus’s appearance different all three times that he appeared to them? Was it because Jesus didn’t want to initially frightened his disciples, but allow them to gradually realize who he was? It might have frightened them, if they thought they were seeing a ghost.  Even after his death, Jesus loved his disciples and took good care of them.  His appearance may have changed, but his love for them had not.  His disciples would recognize his love for them anywhere.

Now contrast this warm, close, peaceful environment, that was filled with love and harmony between Jesus and his disciples, to the people in the first reading for mass today. The rulers, elders and scribes didn’t greet Peter and John warmly when they arrived, or provide a hot meal for them either. In fact, they interrogated them in front of the whole assembly.  Peter and John told the crowds about the love that Jesus Christ had shared with all of them, though.  Five thousand people came to believe what they said about Jesus Christ.  The disciples spoke the truth to these people and their minds and hearts were changed by the words they heard.  Eternal salvation came to them, and to their families.

However, the chief priests, elders and scribes did not accept Christ’s teachings. Peter told them: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Peter and John worked hard to change the minds and hearts of the chief priests, elders and scribes, but many of the Jewish people never did accept Jesus.  The reality is that not everyone is going to accept Jesus Christ, and come to love him, or change their lives because of his love for them.  This is a very difficult thing for most of us to accept, when we encounter people who do not believe that Jesus Christ truly is the son of God.

Peter and John continued to love the people who rejected Jesus, but there is a clear distinction between these two groups of people from today’s first reading, and the gospel story about Christ cooking breakfast for his disciples.  Who would not want to be included in such a warm, loving circle of love and friendship, that we see in Jesus’s relationship with his disciples in today’s gospel?  This is Christian love and friendship at it’s finest.  We can’t force this friendship on anyone though.  We have to respect other people’s free will.  God gave us free will and there is no one that can change that, not even God Himself.

If we have family members or friends that do not believe in Jesus Christ even after many respectful discussions and by setting a good example by our own lives, then we should let go of the guilt that some of us have.  The choice to believe in Jesus Christ is a personal choice that we can’t control.  It isn’t anyone’s fault if a family member or friend does not believe in Jesus Christ.  Free will is something that God Himself does not control and we are certainly not God.  We can control our prayers though.  We should regularly pray for all those who do not believe in Jesus, and then entrust them to God’s care.  The Lord Jesus works in His own way, and in His own time, for the good of those He loves.

Daily Mass Readings:

Acts 4: 1-12 / Psalm 118: 1-2, 4, 22-27a / John 21: 1-14

About the Author

Hello! My name is Laura Kazlas. As a child, I was raised in an atheist family, but came to believe in God when I was 12 years old. I was baptized because of the words that I read in the bible. I later became a Catholic because of the Mass. The first time my husband brought me to Mass, I thought it was the most holy, beautiful sense of worshiping God that I had ever experienced. I still do! My husband John and I have been married for 37 years. We have a son, a daughter, and two granddaughters. We are in the process of adopting a three year old little girl. We live in Salem, Oregon in the United States. I currently serve as the program coordinator for Catholic ministry at a local maximum security men's prison. I‘m also a supervisor for Mount Angel Seminary’s field education program, in Oregon.

Author Archive Page

9 Comments

  2. Wonderfuk reflection,Laura,especially the concluding aspect.May God cause His light to shine upon us all,Amen.

  3. Very good readings today and a great reflection. What a way to start the day with Jesus cooking us breakfast! Thank you Laura.

  4. Your ending was very comforting. He works in his own time for those He loves…and He loves all of us.

  5. Thanks once again for your reflection on the warm love Jesus had for his disciples. A very pleasant morning read about sharing the first meal of the day.

  6. Thank you, Laura. It is true that we need to let others walk their one journeys. My father was one who didn’t believe in Jesus. He was agnostic but he was always supportive of my husband and me. I just kept telling him to remember that Jesus is the only way so that when he died and Jesus came to him, he would follow. He passed away on January 15. I continue to pray for him especially during the rosary when I pray for Jesus to lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of His mercy. I ask that our community pray for him so that he can be in heaven with my mother, who was a believer, and my brother who drown as a teenager. Thank you.

  7. It’s not so much that friends, relatives, neighbours don’t believe in Jesus. It’s more that they no longer trust the hierarchy of the Church, from the top and especially those they came in contact with personally, who like the Pharisees proved to be hypocrites. A friend recently wrote to me (after I told her I no longer attended Mass) that she and her husband too no longer attended Mass. They had become disillusion with the priests. No matter which church they attended. They still believed in God, in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That didn’t change. My niece who recently passed away, said to me that she was not religious, she was spiritual. I hear many people say that, even people who attend their respective Churches.

    However, in today’s gospel the catch of fish is highly symbolic. The central symbolism is that Jesus was giving the Apostles a new calling. They were now to fish for souls. And the important part is that if they attempted to do this by their own efforts, they would come up empty handed. If, however, they did it at the Lord’s command, in His way, within His timing, then their efforts would provide an abundance of good fruit. More than they could ever imagine!

    Sometimes we tend to come up with many ways to convince people of what we believe. But the key is to humble ourselves before God and realize that we are incapable of convincing others about our faith and why we believe what we believe unless the Lord is leading the way and giving the direction. This tells us we should wait on Him and let Him speak. We must listen to His voice and respond only when He leads. Evangelization is a response to Jesus rather than something we do by our own effort. This is the central message of this miraculous event.

    Many years ago, an elderly woman sitting next to me at Mass told me about a friend she was ministering to in hospital. She said he had stopped going to church and she was concerned for his eternal soul after he passed away. I asked her if he objected to her praying over him, for him. She said No. I suggested that he heard her, but perhaps was unable to express whatever he might have been thinking/feeling, and that the rest was between him and God. As mother Theresa said so wisely “it is never between you and them, it’s between them and God”.

    God bless

  8. I love how you pointed out the warmth of the fire and the whole scene around the fire.

    They were probably cold in the morning after their night outside, and needed to warm themselves by the fire.

    When was the last time that Peter had warmed himself by a fire? What did he do then? Nice contrast with what happens while warming himself around this fire. From denial of Jesus and shame to forgiveness, mercy, and becoming the Rock upon which the Church is built.

    I had glossed over the fact that they are standing around a fire warming themselves until you pointed it out, Laura. Thank you very much for the insight!

  9. Chris, thank you for the comments. I love reading the input from the community. There is so much experience shared, so many different views. I just pray that people see Christ in me, that my actions glorify Him. I know there are plenty of times I fall short. Thank God for His mercy.

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