Sunday Gospel
Reflections
May 4,
2025 Cycle C
JN 21:1 - 19
Both Familiar and New
by Fr. Steven G. Oetjen
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After encountering the
Risen Lord twice
in Jerusalem, the apostles now wait to meet him again in
Galilee. It must have
been strange for them to wait there, alone. When would he visit
them again? How
long would they have to wait? What should they do with
themselves in the
meantime?
Simon Peter’s reaction
is
understandable: “I am going fishing.” One has to eat, after all.
And it would
be unbearable to wait around anxiously with nothing to do. Peter
returns to
what he knows best, and the other apostles are happy to join
him.
The scene depicted in
the Gospel has a
great familiarity to it. It seems like things are back to the
way they were
before: fishing on the Sea of Galilee, a miraculous catch of
fish after a whole
night of catching nothing. Haven’t we been here before? Are we
having déjà vu?
The apostles even eat
with Our Lord,
something they presumably did daily for the last three years
they were with
him. There is a calmness, a serenity in the whole account:
“Come, have
breakfast,” the Lord says to them.
And yet, there is also a
strange
newness. They are in the same place, and they are doing the same
things, but
everything is different. How could it be the same? Jesus of
Nazareth suffered a
cruel death. And he was indeed dead — there is no question. John
was there to
see him breathe his last, to see the soldier pierce his Most
Sacred Heart with
a lance, to see the blood and water pour out from his side. He
had died, he had
descended to Sheol, and now he has returned from the dead. He
lives a new and
glorious life, never to die again. He walks through locked doors
and shows his
disciples his wounds. Everything is different. How could things
ever be the
same?
Perhaps this is why the
Lord wanted to
meet them again in Galilee. He wanted them to go back to where
it all began, to
go back to the familiar, but to experience it all again in a
totally new light.
They begin again, but now everything is different. Their old
misconceptions
about the Messiah’s mission are shattered, and they learn
everything anew
during these 40 days before Jesus ascends into heaven.
The Lord also singles
out Peter and
gives him an experience at once familiar and new: There is a
charcoal fire. It
was by a charcoal fire that Peter warmed himself on the night
before the
crucifixion, as he denied Jesus three times. (Jn 18:18) Now
Jesus makes a
charcoal fire to cook breakfast on the shore and asks him three
times, “Simon,
son of John, do you love me?” The warmth of the fire is a
familiar setting, but
this time his response can be totally new. He professes his love
for Jesus
three times, to make up for his previous three denials.
There is also a newfound
humility in
Peter’s response. Earlier, after boldly proclaiming his loyalty
(in John 13:37,
Peter says, “I will lay down my life for you”), Peter ended up
denying Jesus
three times. This was not a surprise to Jesus. It was a surprise
to Peter
himself. Now, Peter is humbled. He truly loves Jesus, but he is
also more aware
of his own weakness and the limitations of his own love.
Jesus asks him, “Do you
love (‘agapas’)
me?” That is, “Do you love me with a divine, self-sacrificial
love?” Peter
responds modestly, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (‘philo’)
you.” That is,
“You know that I love you with the affection of human
friendship, like a
brother.” The Lord asks him the same question a second time, and
Peter gives
the same answer. But the third time, Jesus adjusts his language,
as if to lower
himself to Peter’s level: “Simon, son of John, do you love
(‘phileis’) me?” Do
you love me like a brother?
Peter is now distressed.
Has the Lord
given up on calling him to a higher, self-sacrificial love? No,
the Lord has
not given up on him, and he is still calling him to a higher
love. But he is
also meeting Peter where he is now, willing to accept what
little he has to
offer. Peter’s love will be transformed and elevated, and he
will end up dying
a death like Jesus. But he had to start somewhere. Jesus takes
the familiar,
human love that Peter is capable of giving and he makes it
something new.