Feed My Sheep: Reflections on the Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

Acts 5:27-32. 40b-41
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

If your parish succumbs to the temptation to use the shorter readings, you won’t get the all-important meaning of the title of this reflection. Any parish that does this is more protestant than Catholic.

In the first reading we see the primacy of Peter, the first pope, among the followers of Jesus. Taken to task by the Sanhedrin for “teaching in that Name,” Peter replied, "We must obey God rather than men.” Jesus told them “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Mt 28:18-20) This is where they got the divine authority that they were obeying.

It is obvious from this that, from the beginning of the Church, the Apostles believed in the divinity of Jesus. Otherwise Peter would not have declared that they “must obey God rather than men.” Notice how Peter brings into the argument the whole Trinity as well as the fact of Jesus’ Resurrection. There are many who argue against the Trinity because that word (Trinity) is nowhere to be found in the Bible. But if you read Genesis carefully you find that all three are present at creation; God (the Father), His Breath (Wind, Spirit) hovering over the waters, and the Word (Jesus, the Son, the Logos) who spoke creation into existence.(Genesis 1:1-3) We also see them in various parts of the gospels but especially at the commissioning from Matthew’s gospel, cited above.

“So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” After Pentecost, Peter and the disciples spoke boldly and witnessed to their faith by their lives. It is essential that we do the same if we want to be considered disciples. Yes, as Jesus told us, the world would hate us, but that’s no excuse to hide our faith. The world has become a bully to faith, especially Catholics. The only way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them, not run and hide.

This leads us to the psalm. By standing up to the world, God will not let our enemies rejoice over us. He will save us from the pit (hell). Thus, while we may suffer a little, “At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing.” Thus we will change our mourning into joy (dancing) so that we will be thankful forever. As St. Peter tells us, “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7) In the first reading they rejoiced for their suffering for Jesus’ name.

The reading from Revelation also testifies to the Divinity of Jesus, the worthy Lamb. "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever." After the entire universe makes this statement, including an “Amen,” “the elders fell down and worshiped.” Recall Jesus’ temptation by the devil. When the devil offers Jesus everything (the world) if He would worship him, Jesus replied, “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” The elders clearly recognized the Lamb as God. (Can I get an “Amen?”)

The selection from John’s gospel narrates an event after the Resurrection. Peter and six other apostles (including John) decide to go fishing. Jesus was not with them when they made this decision. After a fruitless night, at dawn, they saw a figure on the shore who asked them if they had caught anything. After they said that they had caught nothing, the figure told them to “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." Not being a fisherman in the first century on the Sea of Galilee I can’t say whether this was odd, but many (e.g., Mother Angelica) speculate that normal practice was to cast the net on the left side, thus this was a change from “standard” procedure. Nevertheless they did as they were told and, behold, the net was so full they “were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.” At that point John recognized the figure was the Lord and told Peter who, with his usual impulsiveness, immediately jumped in and swam to shore.

The ensuing encounter was significant for many reasons. First, it is the second place where we see a charcoal fire, and Peter was involved in both. Earlier Peter denied Jesus at a charcoal fire on the night He was betrayed. Some scholars say the greatness of the catch is representative of the whole world. Bishop Sheen’s take is that “The Apostles understood that, as He had called them to be fishers of men, so this great catch symbolized the faithful who would ultimately be brought to the bark of Peter.” (Life of Christ) In other words, the catch represents the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.

Reminiscent of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (the multiplication of the catch also relates to this) and the feeding of the multitudes: “Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.” (This miracle is recorded in all of the gospels)

Inexplicably at this point the shorter version stops, although a critical facet of the Church is coming in the longer version. As the first reading implies the primacy of Peter, the rest of this encounter makes it very clear. The Good Shepherd is establishing the long-term care of His sheep, entrusting them to Peter, the first pope. In contrast to Peter’s denial after the Last Supper, Jesus asks Peter to affirm his love for Him three times. Each time He tells Peter to care for His sheep. In the original Greek, twice Jesus uses the term for supernatural love, to which Peter replies in the affirmative using the term for natural love. As He does for all of us, the third time Jesus comes down to Peter’s level and uses the same term as Peter. He meets all of us where we are. “As Peter went step by step down the ladder of humiliation, step by step the Lord followed him with the assurance of the work for which he was destined.” (Life of Christ) Jesus thus transferred His visible presence to an earthly head shepherd while He returned to the Father as the everlasting Head and Shepherd in heaven.

The gospel reading ends with a prediction for Peter of the cost of this awesome responsibility: “Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow Me.’"

The primacy of Peter and the cost of discipleship are key points of this week’s readings. Those who think following Jesus will be an easy ride are deceiving themselves. People appreciate most the things for which they work hardest. Heaven is worth all of the hard work, including sufferings, that it takes to get there. Think of St. Paul’s words “... ‘eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,’ this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

“No man is fit to enjoy heaven unless he has resigned himself to suffer hardship for Christ.” (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ)