Fr Marco Lazzaron
his Sunday’s Gospel gives us the third manifestation of the Risen Lord to the apostles. It is an encounter that takes place at the Lake of Galilee, where Jesus called the first four disciples to follow him. We could say that, especially for Peter, it was a true “resurrection experience”. Three key points are worthy to consider:
First: distrust. Peter said to the others: “I’m going fishing”. Nothing strange, he was a fisherman, except that Peter had abandoned everything just three years before when Jesus called him. The other disciples too follow in the distrust: “We’re coming with you”. As Pope Francis said well: “It can also happen to us, out of tiredness, disappointment, perhaps out of laziness, to forget the Lord and to neglect the great choices we have made, to settle for something else. For example, we don’t dedicate time to talking to each other as a family; we forget prayer, letting ourselves be caught up in our own needs; charity is neglected, with the excuse of daily emergencies. But, in doing so, one finds oneself disappointed: it was precisely the disappointment that Peter had, with empty nets, like him. It is a road that takes you backwards and does not satisfy you”.
Second point: the encounter. Jesus goes to meet the apostles and calls them tenderly: “children”. Then he invites them to cast their nets again on the right side, with courage. As if to say: when the nets are empty, that is, when in life we go through despair and difficulty, it is not the time to give up; it is the time to start again from Jesus, to set out again and to bet on his words. “Set out again with Jesus, start again! He is waiting for you. And he thinks only of you, of me, of each one of us” (Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 01.05.2022). The apostles trust and catch a great quantity of fish. John, the youngest, recognizes Jesus, and shouts: “It is the Lord”. Peter, the oldest, dives in to swim to him. “Dear brothers and sisters, today the risen Christ invites us to a new leap, all of us, each of us, invites us to dive into goodness without the fear of missing out, without calculating too much, without waiting for others to begin. To go towards Jesus you have to take a risk and, with courage, start again”(Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 01.05.2022).
Finally, here is the third point: love. Peter comes to Jesus and Jesus does not reproach him in the slightest. He simply calls him three times and asks: “Peter, do you love me?” Yes, three times, just like the times Peter had denied him. Jesus, by making Peter feel loved and calling him back to love, reawakens his heart, healing it with his mercy. In the same way, “Jesus also wants our heart to rise again; because faith is not a question of knowledge, but of love. Jesus asks you, me, us, who have empty nets and are often afraid to start over; you, me, all of us, who do not have the courage to dive in: “Do you love me?” From that time on, Peter stopped fishing forever and dedicated himself to the service of God and his brothers, to the point of giving his life”(Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 01.05.2022).