Scripture Reflection, May 4, 2025, Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19

Today the Church gives us the option of a longer gospel reading with two post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, or a shorter version with the second story only.

The longer gospel begins with the disciples having had an unsuccessful night out on their fishing boat. By dawn, as they returned with empty nets, they saw Jesus on the shore. At his direction the disciples cast their nets again. This time they were hugely successful! This section culminates with a breakfast of fish and bread prepared by Jesus and shared with his disciples.

In the second story Jesus takes Peter aside. Three times he poses the question: "Do you love me?” Three times Peter professes his love before being given the charge to care for the flock of Jesus.

Much could be said about each story... but, let us take just one small detail…Peter. It is Peter who, upon recognizing the Lord on the shore in the first story, enthusiastically "jumps into the sea.” And it is Peter in the second story who is given the charge to shepherd those Jesus leaves behind.

As I write this reflection we are burying Pope Francis, Peter’s successor and a true shepherd. His Spirit-filled pastoring of the church and, indeed, his care for the whole world was palpable. As was his love for the Lord. And his joy… especially his joy!

Many scripture scholars point to the full nets of the disciples in today’s first story as a symbol of the church’s work of evangelization, it's outreach to the world. In his apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel,” Francis wrote, “Christians… should appear as people who wish to share their joy,… who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the church grows but by attraction.“(14). And attract ,he did!. All over the world. People of every faith and nation were drawn to him.

His was a "Heart Open to the Whole World ", the title of a chapter in his encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship.” “If the conviction that all human beings are brothers and sisters is not to remain an abstract idea but to find concrete embodiment, then numerous related issues emerge…,” he wrote.”(128). Some of those issues he identified were borders, openness to the other and “a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good.”

In his commitment to peace and justice and in his joyful expression of the gospel, Francis left us with big shoes to fill. What specific action might you incorporate into your life to honor his memory?

by: Pat Schnee