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 threw them in prison and then 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 rejected 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 Paul worked toward changing 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 really is the son of God.
Peter and Paul 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, even if it isn’t in their best interest. 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 Christ, and then entrust them to God’s care. He 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
