Third Sunday of Easter
04 May 2025
First Reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel: John 21:1-19
Reflection
By: Jose Paulo M. Gonzales
"Cast the net over the right side of the boat."
Have you been having trouble lately trying to find out where to lower your net for a good catch? Toiling all day and night, only to be met by an unsatisfying yield?
That must have been the feeling of Peter. Leaving everything behind the moment he found Christ, setting out for mission a great part of his life, trying to live the life of an apostle whatever it could have meant before — as it could have been more difficult a task configuring oneself in character when the groundwork for what is moral is still freshly being laid down. The apostles had Christ to follow; but when Christ died, much to their dismay, who else did they have?
In the Gospel today, some Bible scholars say that when Peter said, "I am going fishing," it was nothing normal — like the average run of the mill — or rather, it was a dejected feeling of getting back to "what was normal" when they still did not know Christ; for if Christ is dead, what else is there to do? What else is there to live for? The apostles could only make do with what they knew before — their former ways of life. They could only say to the just as despirited Peter, "We also will come with you; [for what else but we should rather go fishing with you]."
Have we been anything like this? Seeing Christ faintly to nothing at all, we revert to our old ways of life? We are not alone; we could see how somber Peter and the other apostles had been when they had no sight of Christ; for when you chance upon a Good that surpasses everything, what better is there when it is gone? But one popular saying today would hold wisdom in this: "The eyes that awaken can never go back to being shut again." In Matthew 5:15, it is said: "Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." The apostles saw the light of Christ and because it was so good, they knew nothing else but to grow despondent when they could not see it anymore; but the Bible tells us not to turn back. Instead, we must let the light we have seen in Christ illumine ourselves for others to see. No sight of Christ does not mean there is no Presence of Him there. For here He always is with us in Spirit; “Emmanuel.”
That time in the Gospel, as it would seem, Jesus had already shown Himself to the apostles for the third time, but it was not until Christ did anything "Christlike" that the apostles recognized Him; in some Bible interpretations this would reflect not only unfamiliarity but even weak faith — and this is we, too, when we encounter setbacks; but the Bible would tell us to keep walking in faith. For like riding a bicycle, we lose our balance if we stop or look down.
In the Gospel, the word "third" was mentioned multiple times to signify not only frequency, but ultimately, "Divine completion." So when Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" Jesus was not only being repetitive; each time He asked—as some Bible scholars would say—was a chance for Peter to atone for his threefold refusal of any association with Jesus. "Feed My sheep"—Christ would say—to package how this atonement must take place; three times as well, meaning, in divine perfection.
Today is the third Sunday of Easter. Christ is alive forevermore; but to us who stay sullen upon our immutable woes, there is this question: "Where have we been casting our nets? Have we been casting it over the right side of the boat, as Jesus said?"
Prayer
Dear, Lord Jesus, Thank You for ever being with us even/especially when we feel hopeless about our situations at times. Please be steadfast in Your love and let it teem so richly where we could not.
Please help our unbelief. May all the gifts we receive from this redound to Your Glory and bring furtherance to Your mission. All these we ask in Jesus' most holy Name, and in Mother Mary's loving and powerful intercession, Amen.
