One Saturday evening Shamus O’Reilly went to his favorite pub, where he had a few to many and stayed too long. It was late, so he decided to cut through the cemetery to save time getting home. The cemetery was very dark, he fell into an open grave and spent the night there.
The next morning, he woke up and crawled up to the top of the grave. It was a beautiful morning, the sunlight glistening off the grass. O’Reilly exclaimed, “Praised be to God, It’s Resurrection Sunday and I am the first one up.”
Our Gospel account occurs early in the morning and Jesus offers Peter an invitation “Follow me!” Jesus, also, invites us to Follow Him. For those of us who like water, be it a river, a sea, a lake or an ocean, today’s Gospel scene is beautiful, powerful, and evocative.
Dawn slowly moves the darkness into day, the disciples are still reeling from the death of Jesus. They are searching, so they turn to the familiar - fishing, but they were unsuccessful. The morning rays of sun enveloped an enigmatic figure on the sand; the smell of charcoal fills the air; yet the silhouette standing by the fire is a mystery. “At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn, there is rejoicing.” [Psalm 30:6] That psalm captures many moments in the Apostles lives and in ours.
From the Book of Revelation we heard, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessings.” And John tells us … “Jesus reveals Himself again to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.”
Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus fed the 5,000+ at the Sea of Tiberias with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The Gospel points out that these experienced fishermen caught nothing, then a stranger tells them to cast their nets over the right side. They do and are overwhelmed by the size of their catch!
There is a beautiful and powerful ancient Jewish saying, “God dwells wherever we let him in.”
Jesus is both the source of eternal life and the path to eternal life.
As you know Pope Francis died on Easter Monday & his pontificate reminded us that God is Mercy, God is Joy and God is Hope. In his homily at Pope Francis’ funeral Cardinal Re said, “The final image we have of him … is that of last Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, [gave] us his blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica …. then came down to this Square to greet the large crowd ….”
He, then, quoted Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question. “It was prompt and sincere: ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!’” Jesus then entrusted him with the great mission: “Feed my sheep.”
Take some time to pray for the Cardinal-Electors that they follow the promptings of the Holy spirit as they select our next Holy Father, and may we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
This story can help us understand the Holy Spirit. There was House on fire smoke everywhere little boy in a window on the second floor of his home.
His father called him to “…jump; I’ll catch you; but I can’t see you!”
The father responds, “I can see you!” That is the way it is with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is with us all the time, but we need to listen and be attentive to the Holy Spirit.
Today’s message, from Acts is clear, “… obey [listen] to God ….” God is in our midst.
For a few minutes think about your life and are you obeying/listening to the Lord.
May God Be Praised.
* Painting by James Jacques Tissot (French painter and illustrator, 1836-1902)
Sunday's Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050425.cfm
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