Tend My Sheep

Scripture for the 3rd Sunday of Easter can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/041016.cfm

The disciples, who apparently have abandoned their once-enthusiastic commitment to Jesus and returned to fishing, recognize the Lord and are reinvigorated by sharing a meal with Him. Their going fishing  makes it seam like that their belief in the Resurrection  hadn't yet taken hold on their lives. They went back to fishing as if nothing had really changed in their lives. They needed to be revitalized in their belief of the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. In today's gospel we see that Jesus gives them that revival!

We, too, like the disciples can use some revitalization. Easter Sunday was a time of renewal in Christ, our faith was strengthened and, now, here we are in the third week of Easter and starting to run out of steam.  Let's look at three moments in the Gospel: the meal, the mission, and the martyrdom becasue each of these moments speaks to us.

I would like to imagine what was being discussed at this meal on the seashore. They must have been talking about and remembering the many meals they shared with Jesus throughout His earthly life. They were probably remembering the meal on the mountainside after the multiplication of loaves, the meal at the house of Matthew with all those tax collectors, the Passover meals, and, of course, that Last Supper when Jesus gave them a way He would remain with them and then prayed for them. Now, here they were, after the Resurrection, and all that came back to them. Here was a second chance to renew their union with Christ!

At each Mass we attend, we renew our union with Christ. It reminds us of other Masses in our life: our First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Wedding, other Easter and Christmas Masses, funerals and special Masses. At each Mass we attend, Our Lord speaks to us again, teaches us again, joins us to each other again around the altar as He gives us His own Self again in the Eucharist. We need the constant renewal that the Eucharist offers. At every Mass we attend, we renew our identity as disciples, to be close to Christ and to remember  who we are because so much in our life pulls us away from Christ.

Secondly, we see that there is a mission. Jesus takes Peter aside and asks three times, "Do you love me?" in order to reverse Peter's threefold denial. In these three questions and responses between Jesus and Peter, we see the wonderful forgiveness of Jesus. This is something that Peter could not do for himself. Notice that  each time Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" and Peter answers, "I do," the Lord responds by saying "Feed my sheep." Peter would show that love not by mere words of love but by deeds of love by feeding the sheep and caring for Christ's flock.

Peter's call of love for Christ would mean caring for the whole flock. And Peter would do that for the rest of his life. We, too, are called to care for a portion of the that flock, whether it's a parish, a family, children, a spouse, an aging parent, people at work, those for whom the Lord is calling us to care for now. Like Peter, we show our love for the Lord not by what we say but by caring for others, feeding their minds, souls and bodies. Jesus is saying to Peter and to us, "Show me." That's the mission Jesus gave Peter on the seashore. At each Mass we attend we get a second chance to renew our dedication to the benefit and good of the Church.

Finally, there is the martyrdom. Jesus speaks to Peter about his death, "When you get older, another will lead you against your will." Although martyrdom is a heroic witness, there are many other ways of giving witness. In our time, we are called to speak to the value of human rights and the sacredness of life, to strengthen the family and to stand for human dignity especially in the area of sexuality, and for civility and respect for others especially polarized in society like ours. Our generation has its own call and someday, we pray, we will have our own success story to tell.

Each one of us is called to give a witness maybe not at the risk of our life but at the risk of popularity, friendships, position, leisure time or career opportunities. We don't know what awaits us in the future, but at Mass we are given a second  chance to receive grace for that witness. Jesus gave Peter grace for witness. We too receive that second chance at every Mass we attend by the grace we receive for witnessing to Him.

The final truth about Peter and the apostles is not their abandonment of the Lord but the fact that they were given a second chance and used it for the Kingdom.Let us use the second chances we have received from the Lord to bring the Kingdom of God to all those in our lives.