I suspect that most of us have had the experience
of a bit of humor lightening a stressful situation…
or of a gentle word diffusing a difficult moment.
I can recall a painful situation between myself and a friend...
[Ad Libitum…]
When we later met...I expected at the very least a good deal of tension…
if not a long, painful discussion with many apologies…
and perhaps the end of a good relationship.
Instead when we met, my friend simply smiled and said…
“So, are you hungry? Let’s go have lunch!”
Of course I did have to apologize…
we did have to talk about a few things…
and we had to recommit ourselves to one another as friends.
But the anxiety was dispelled by those few words spoken in kindness…
a sign that forgiveness and understanding were already being offered to me.
[PAUSE]
This is the kind of scene presented to us today by Saint John.
We can imagine that the disciples went through a time of despair…
thinking that all their hopes and dreams for a new life with Jesus
were destroyed with His death on the Cross.
Then they must have been filled with anxiety and confusion…
as they find that Jesus…whom they had buried…is somehow alive.
We see them returning to their work of fishing…
trying to keep a sense of normalcy in their lives…
and feed themselves and their families...
all the while trying to make some sense of this Jesus
who has changed their lives…
this Jesus who promised them new life…
then was crucified and is now alive!
Suddenly a figure they do not recognize appears and speaks to them.
He tells them to cast off their net to the other side…
and in the miraculous catch of fish they realize that it is Jesus the Lord!
Surely these days can best be described
as an “emotional roller coaster” for the Apostles.
You can imagine Jesus smiling lovingly…
as He diffuses the confusing and stressful moment…
by simply saying to His friends:
“Bring some fish. Come, have breakfast!”
None of them asked questions…
instead they just enjoyed each other’s company.
Of course…after the meal…
Jesus and Peter had a few things to talk about…
an apology was in order…
and Peter needed to recommit Himself to Jesus’ saving plan.
Notice that the meal and the discussion take place around a charcoal fire.
Recall the last time the Gospels present us with a scene that includes a charcoal fire.
Jesus is inside being interrogated on allegations of blasphemy.
Peter is warming himself outside the house of the High Priest.
The one to whom Jesus entrusted the leadership of His Church…
stood near that charcoal fire and denied Jesus…
…three times…to three separate persons.
He insisted that He did not even know Him!
This time the charcoal fire is not the scene of denial but of joyful reunion.
This time Jesus is the one asking the questions.
In order to make up for the three-fold denial…
Jesus asks Peter three separate times…
“Do you love me?”
Peter is surely filled with remorse for having denied Jesus…
and the sorrow of his heart increases with every repetition of the question…
“Do you love me?”
Peter is visibly upset that the Lord would ask him so many times….
“Do you love me?”
The third time we can hear the anguish in his heart and in his voice as he cries out…
“Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Each time Peter responds with a profession of His love,
Jesus offers a command…
“Feed my lambs…Tend my sheep…Feed my sheep.”
These words of the Lord are related to Peter’s office as chief shepherd…
whose vocation and mission it is to care for the flock of the Church,
established by Jesus Himself.
[PAUSE]
This past week, the fabric our nation suffered a serious assault…
as the lives of 33 people at Virginia Tech University
were abruptly and violently taken by a gunman intent on destruction.
The victims were students and teachers…
young people in the prime of their lives and dedicated educators.
Such a tragic scene leaves us as bewildered as the Apostles,
who could not at first make sense of their Savior’s death and resurrection.
In a letter expressing sympathy to victims…
Pope Benedict described the events of last Monday as “senseless.”
Senseless, yes.
We know that the killer had two handguns…
and the sheer number of injuries and deaths
meant that he had to reload and deliberately continue firing.
We know that in the two-hour period between the two shootings…
he mailed a video describing his twisted thoughts to NBC News.
Such premeditated violence makes absolutely no sense.
What good could possibly come from such horror?
Perhaps the only effect of such violence that could be called “positive”…
is if in seeing it we are awoken from our own complacency…
and made aware without a doubt
how desperately the world needs Jesus Christ.
And lest we ever think that our community is immune from violence…
let me tell you a story…
When I first arrived at Saint Aloysius…
Father Bernie took me around to some of the places
I would need to know in the area,
including the local funeral homes.
In one funeral home, a funeral director was arranging a body for viewing.
This was nothing I had not seen before,
having worked in a funeral home myself.
However…this time I was really taken aback…
and my heart sank as I saw a beautiful young girl lying in the casket.
I later found out that she was murdered in a shooing involving her boyfriend…
who was a drug dealer.
I am certain that image is one I shall never forget.
There are many circumstances put forth to help us understand what happens
in violent situations…
troubled lives…
poor upbringing…
drug addictions…
peer pressure.
And yet…as those bold enough to take the name “Christian”…
we cannot forget that the troubles of our world
have much to do with the absence of the love and truth of Christ.
In the face of this violence we are left in anguish asking “Why, Lord?”
We cannot repair the lives that have been destroyed.
We can only entrust the souls of the victims…and of the gunman…
to the mercy of God and the care of the Virgin Mary.
And as we recognize that there are so many troubled souls in this world…
who have never known Christ…
we can renew our baptismal duty to preach His Gospel with our lives.
Every moment of life counts.
Every moment is a chance to make Christ’s presence known to another person.
This mission given to Peter to “tend and feed the sheep of Christ’s flock”
in fact extends to the whole Church.
It belongs to each one of us to reach out to
those who have never known real love…
those who may be on the path toward sin or evil of one kind or another…
those who have never heard the Gospel preached to them…
the sheep who have never experienced the Church tending to them…
the lambs who have never been fed by Christ.
Only the words of Christ can bring healing and peace
to anxious, confusing lives and bewildering violence.
Witnessing to Christ is as unpopular today as it was in the time of the Apostles.
Yet, just as they stood strong against the Sanhedrin…
and suffered dishonor for the sake of the Name…
so must we stand strong…
and be prepared to be disgraced for the sake of Christ.
To fail in our vocation is to deny that we even know Jesus.
It is our hope and our constant prayer that…
by fulfilling this sacred vocation…
we will inspire the world to turn to God and not to violence…
to solve the problems of this life.
[PAUSE]
“Lord, you know everything. You know that we love you.”
In your mercy, help us to love you more!
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