FRIDAY HOMILY FOR OCTAVE OF EASTER – YEAR B

FRIDAY HOMILY FOR OCTAVE OF EASTER – YEAR B

THEME: HE LIVES WITH US.

BY: FR. KARABARI PAUL

“It is the Lord.”

The exclamation, ‘It is the Lord’, comes with excitement. It provides energy and hope. It gives us a reason for gratitude so that we can say, ‘It is the Lord’s doing.’ The Gospel of today (John 21:1-14) presents yet another appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. From this particular occasion, we learn that He comes to us even in our common business. Again, we have a sense of unity of purpose that provokes God’s presence. They all agreed to go fish. It is good for Christians to be much together, not only when they are in church but also in common businesses.

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For three years, they had been Jesus’ near-constant companions. Now, there was a gaping hole in their lives, and they were left wondering how to fill it. Peter, always a man who liked practical action, came up with a very obvious solution; back to work. Back to the practice and the trade he and the others knew so well, that of fishing. It is entirely understandable that the disciples wanted to fill their time doing something positive. They might well have needed to do so for financial reasons.

These fishermen were real professionals. They knew what they were doing when it came to fish. That was why they went out at night. Experience had taught them this was the most productive time. But on this occasion they fished with a singular lack of success. When morning came, their nets were as empty as when they had begun. We can imagine their feelings; tired, frustrated, tetchy, baffled, and hungry.

The simple phrase, ‘they caught nothing,’ is profoundly evocative. It calls to mind all the occasions when we work extremely hard over something and achieve nothing. What we all experience at times like this is the futility of work. A sense of time, money, and energy having been wasted; in the words of Ecclesiastes, ‘a striving after wind… What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?’ (Ecclesiastes 2:17,22). Like Peter and his colleagues, we catch nothing and find it difficult to understand where we have gone wrong.

So completely at their wits’ end, they were ready to act on the advice of a complete stranger, even though this must have been a serious blow to their pride. Who was this clever fellow on the shore who asked the painful question, ‘Children, have you any fish?’ Never mind, from His vantage point He might be able to see something they couldn’t. They cast their net in to the right, and this time, they really did catch something. The realisation that it was the risen Jesus who was the mysterious stranger rapidly followed.

Christians who work should take encouragement from the fact that the glorified Lord makes Himself known in their doing of secular jobs. Jesus does not criticise the disciples for going back to their old occupation. What Jesus does is bring success to their working endeavours and lead their night out fishing to a marvellous conclusion.

This story raises the question of whether we expect, look for, and long for the resurrection power of Jesus to be evident in our places of work. Do we believe He can transform our mundane, complex, and often difficult situations just as He filled those fishing nets to the bursting point? Just as there are episodes of depressing futility at work and business failure so there are also moments of exciting transformation. It could be a dreaded interview with a member of staff, which turns out much better than expected: a hostile relationship turned into a friendly one, with real reconciliation taking place. It may be a miraculous recovery from illness after giving up on hope. It may be a sudden influx of customer orders after a period of deep failure and constant cutbacks.

It should be said, however, that Jesus’ presence with us on the shore does not guarantee that everything in the place of work will go wonderfully smoothly. The Christian faith is not that sort of insurance policy. Frustrations and setbacks, crossed lines, and empty nets will continue to afflict us from time to time. But in Jesus Christ, there is room for transformation, which is relevant to working life as well as our spiritual life. In this particular story, change is effected through listening to a word of advice: ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat’. Christians need to be on the alert for similar words of wisdom. If they are living in a state of close relationship with their risen Lord, they may be surprised at the flashes of inspiration, which sometimes come their way.

In this story, there is a fine sense of Jesus and the disciples being co-workers. Admittedly, Jesus provided the decisive piece of information, but the disciples had to haul the fish ashore, and quite a weight it was too. When they reach the beach, they find Jesus has already been busying Himself cooking a breakfast, apparently having access to some private fish supply of His own. No doubt the disciples forgot their tiredness, the crossness about the long hours wasted catching nothing, and marvelled at the transformation which had taken place, all because of the risen Jesus in their midst. We should not forget the power of the Eucharist as almost all the appearances are within its context. Great things happen when we meet God in the Eucharist. Those who are privileged to receive Him daily are indeed blessed. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. I fervently pray that Christ may meet you sooner than expected at your very point of lack and failure to change that depressing futility into great blessing through the same Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning. Happy Weekend.

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