Homily 3rd Sunday of Easter - May 1, 2022

 Today's readings can be found here.

            Peter is my hero.  He tries really hard to be a good disciple and follow Jesus.  But he many times he doesn’t quite understand what Jesus tells him.  Or he just plain falls down.  Peter recognizes Jesus as the Christ but gets rebuked after saying Jesus should not suffer at the hands of the chief priests.  At the Transfiguration, Peter is so overwhelmed by what’s going on he didn’t know what to say and talks about creating three booths.  And during Jesus’ passion, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times.  And yet Peter is the person Jesus chose to lead His Church.

            In today’s Gospel, Peter and some of the disciples decide to go fishing.  There’s no explanation why, but perhaps Peter was so overwhelmed by everything that happened recently, he needed to do something physical to deal with the stress.  By engaging his body in something familiar requiring hard work, like fishing, he could take his mind of things for a while.  I’ve found that cycling does that for me.  While I’m riding, I’m focused only on the road and the physical act of riding.  Any thoughts that might otherwise be bouncing around my head get pushed to the back of my mind for a while.

            So let’s put ourselves in Peter’s shoes.  He’s been fishing all night and has caught nothing.  He’s likely tired, hungry, perhaps a little frustrated, perhaps even a little hangry.  Suddenly, someone on the shore calls out “Hey, did you catch anything?”  How might you react?  I know I might have a snarky reply, or at least think of one.  Peter probably wasn’t at his best right then, but he answers no, they’ve caught nothing.  Now the stranger says, “Throw your net over the right side, you’ll catch fish there.”.  Imagine Peter’s reaction.  He’s a lifelong fisherman, he’s been at it all night, and a stranger on the shore knows where the fish are!

            They throw the net off the right side, perhaps to prove to the stranger he’s wrong, or perhaps because something in the way he says it convinces them to give it a try.  And when they do, the net is full with so many fish they can’t pull it in!  Imagine the look on Peter’s face now!  He’s so dumbfounded, it doesn’t register what’s going on.  It takes the disciple Jesus loved to make him understand.  The other disciple shouts “It is the Lord!”  Peter, the one Jesus picked to lead his Church, doesn’t recognize Jesus until someone points Him out.

            However, once Peter realizes it’s Jesus, what does he do?  He jumps into the water to be with Jesus.  Never mind the fish, never mind the boat, never mind his friends, never mind getting wet.  Peter saw Jesus and needed to be where He was.  While Peter misunderstood things at times, he also got many things right.  In Luke’s Gospel, Peter also catches a large number of fish after Jesus tells him to lower his nets.  He falls to his knees recognizing his sinfulness before Jesus.  In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter allows the Holy Spirit to lead him to Cornelius, a centurion and gentile.  He realizes God shows no partiality as the Holy Spirit comes upon the members of Cornelius’ household.  He immediately baptizes them.  Jesus was the most important person in Peter’s life.

Peter is like so many of us.  He has to work hard at being a disciple and striving towards holiness.  He misunderstands what Jesus tells him sometimes.  He makes mistakes and seeks forgiveness.  He tries to be open to the Holy Spirit in his life.  Are there times in our lives where it’s seemed hard to be a good Christian?  Do we feel unworthy or discouraged in our spiritual life or in ministry?  Were there times we’ve been hesitant to show our faith in public, like in our schools or workplaces?  Have we been like Peter in today’s Gospel, so focused on what we’re doing we don’t recognize Jesus in others?

            Peter made mistakes as a disciple.  But every time he fell down, he got up again and tried to be a better disciple afterwards.  Even after denying Jesus three times, he still ran to Jesus and told Him three times how much he loved Him.  Jesus told Peter to follow Him, and Peter did, flawed though he was.  Peter is my hero.  Could he be your hero too?