During Eastertide, that period
between Easter and Pentecost, a number of our readings will focus on the early church and its
development from being that tiny community in Jerusalem and then through the expansion to various
countries in the Mediterranean area.
These readings are like a family album which contains within it snapshots, so to speak, of
how the process of Christianity slowly spread and the issues that expansion
brought for not only the young Church but, also for those who were the leaders of Judaism. The gospel last weekend and
this weekend are very interesting in terms of how the disciples processed the
reality of Jesus’ resurrection and what it meant for their lives. Over the last couple of weeks, for example we encountered not only the joy of some
apostles in personally witnessing the
risen Christ. But we also encountered
the frustration and anger of Thomas that he was left out of those earlier
encounters the other apostles shared with Jesus. His
doubt fueled within him a strong emotion that he was trying to deal with. So strong was that emotion, that he required
tangible proof before he could accept this experience of Resurrection and before
he could believe in Christ again. The
gospel over the last two weekends comes from chapter 20 of John’s gospel beginning
with Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdala in
the garden beside the tomb and then moving on quickly to the upper room in Jerusalem that
first Sunday evening where all the
apostles except Thomas encountered the Risen Christ. That chapter ends with John writing a
conclusion to his gospel and we would think that that was the
end of John’s gospel or so it seemed in the text. He writes a conclusion of that Chapter 20 by stating that Jesus did many other signs and wonders and John
says that these final lines of his conclusion are written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that
through that belief you may life in his name.” (John20:30-31)
And
then we turn the page and come to the gospel for this weekend, which is an
additional Chapter to his gospel, Ch. 21.
It is like John is saying to us, even after he wrote his conclusion in
chapter 20, “but wait there’s still more: still more surprises, more patience,
more forgiveness, more wonder to behold.” This weekends’ gospel, Ch. 21, opens with an account that takes us full circle, right back to where the journey of these apostles began (i.e., on the shore of the sea of Galilee). They are again fishing all night, and again they
catch nothing. Then, someone, a stranger
on the shore tells Peter to cast their nets to right-side of the boat just like
what happened at the beginning of this gospel and suddenly they
catch so many fish they can barely haul the nets in. It is just like what happened when they first encountered Jesus 3 years before. Suddenly it clicks, at least in John’s mind,
who that someone the shore is. When they
get to shore, they find that Jesus has prepared a meal for them, a sort of cook-out. They
all seem to know it is Jesus, but they are reluctant to question him. Next
is the wonderful scene between Jesus and Peter, a scene by which Peter is
restored both in his own mind and in the minds of the others, as the
leader. That restoration is a form reconciliation
between Peter and Jesus, because Peter needs
to face the guilt he is carrying for his denial of Jesus in order for him to be freed from it and to be able to feed, tend, and guide the young
church. Guide it first in Jerusalem and
then finally to the ends of the world, Rome. In our gospel reading this weekend
are the final few lines of at the end of Chapter 21 where Peter is asked to
physically follow Jesus away from the
others. We never learn what Peter
discusses with Jesus during those minutes or hours maybe even days that they
walked by themselves. But in this final chapter of John gospel, at the end, John writes yet another Conclusion in which he affirms that what he is writing is true. He affirms that if he were to write down all
that Jesus had done there would not be
enough books in the world to contain everything. In
this last chapter of John’s gospel, the apostles are going home to Galilee; they
are going fishing again, and they do not recognize Jesus on the shore when he
tells them to fish off the other side of the boat. It seems like in some ways John is explaining that faith,
particularly faith in the life and resurrection of Jesus ; faith that Jesus is
the Son of God; faith that Jesus came
among us as one of us and yet at the same times came as one is also divine;
that such faith is a process and it doesn’t all happen at once. Such faith takes time and experiences, and
encounters. Sometimes such faith begins in doubt and grows
to assurance, not instantly, but rather in stages. Sort of like when, in order for us to grow,
we have to often take three steps forward and one step back. That proverbial “one
back step” is often to ponder like the apostles, how will believing in Christ change our lives, and to ponder how willing are
we to fully commit to what we now understand to be what Jesus is asking of us; asking of us, even though we
still have questions we need answers to. The church itself over these next few days will be going through a very
important process of faith in selecting our next Pope. The
church in concert with the cardinals in
Rome is awaiting who the Spirit will
choose as the next Peter? While the Conclave of cardinals is sealed
within the walls of the Sistine Chapel in Rome in order to open themselves up to this discernment process, it needs the whole
church, us, to join them in prayer for
their deliberations; to join them in prayer for their capacity to discern what
the Spirit is asking of them. As people of faith, we must accept our role,
our place in this election of a new Pope.
From these readings last week and, this week, and for the next few weeks
of Eastertide up to Pentecost we are invited to ponder just like the early church
did what our life and commitment of faith will be to our God, and to His
Church. It is a process we all are going
through and it takes time and trust. Pierre
Teihard de Chardin, who died in 1955 was a famous French Jesuit priest who was
also a brilliant scientist, theologian and teacher. He wrote and contributed much to the Church. One of his famous works was a poem about how
God works in our lives to bring about faith in Him. It is called-
Trust in the Slow Work of God.
“Above
all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is
the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so, I think
it is with you,
your ideas mature gradually let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could
say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.”1.
As Jesus said to Peter, he says to all of
us who sit here at his table and who will eat of his bread.
“Follow Me.”
1.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ. excerpted
from Hearts on Fire