The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

 

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday in the Octave of Easter | USCCB

In our gospel from St. John for today, we hear of the third time Jesus appears to the disciples after rising from the dead. In chapter 20 of the Gospel, we hear of Jesus rising from the dead on Easter Sunday Morning, and Him appearing first to Mary Magdalene, then twice in a week to the apostles in the upper room.

In the first appearance of Jesus in the upper room, Jesus breathes on them, and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the power to forgive sins. In John 20:23 we hear our Lord say to the apostles: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Then in the 2^nd appearance, 8 days later, we hear of St. Thomas, the doubter, not wanting to believe in the resurrection of Jesus unless he placed his fingers into the nail prints and wound on His side. Jesus complied, and Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28). Then Jesus responded, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John20:29).

Then in today’s gospel, after these beautiful experiences of the Risen Lord, they seem to have forgotten that Jesus has risen from the dead and start going back to their former way of life of fishing. But Jesus came to remind them that He is still present in their lives. First, he commands them to throw a net on the right side and, as a result, catch many fish. With that John proclaims, “It is the Lord.” Peter, anxious to see the Lord, swims to shore to great the Lord. Jesus, always concerned about his disciples, prepares them breakfast.

All throughout our lives, we have experienced the risen Lord during special times in our lives, such as a wedding or a child’s baptism, or in any other special occasion that may bring us closer to God. But then there are those times when we may feel the Lord is not near to us. It may be in those ordinary routines of our life where we are just doing what we need to do that we don’t feel the Lord’s presence. We may not feel the Lord’s presence in our simple day-to-day existence, but today’s gospel reminds us that the Lord is always present to us, no matter what we may be going through in our lives. He’s there waiting for us to rush to Him, as Peter did, and to reach out to Him to be part of our day-to-day existence, even when we may not feel Him present. He’s there just waiting for us to say, “It’s the Lord.”

Let us, like St. Peter, rush to the Lord every day of our lives, and show Him the love and adoration that he deserves. And, like St. Thomas, let us say, “My Lord and my God.” Amen.