READINGS FOR THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR C, SUNDAY 1ST MAY, 2022.

First Reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40-41

Psalm: 29

Second Reading: Apocalypse 5:11-14

Gospel: John 21: 1-19

REFLECTION BY FR CORNELIUS NWAOGWUGWU, CM

THE RISEN JESUS IS ALWAYS WITH US

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this Third Sunday of Easter, inspired by the spirit of today’s liturgical celebration, I share with you the Good News of encouragement, hope and joy. It is fascinating and reassuring to know that no matter what happens in our lives, the Risen Lord is always with us.

The incident at the Sea of Tiberias is the story of a God who will not abandon us when we are dejected and disappointed. The Risen Lord invites us to always maintain contact with Him. God is near to those who seek Him and who want to live in His presence, doing His will.

Today’s readings invite us to maintain contact with the Risen Lord through “Obedience to God” in prayer, the Eucharist and His presence in the believing and worshipping community.

In maintaining contact with Jesus Christ, our every desire for goodness and happiness is fulfilled. God alone can satisfy our deepest longings, which are so often clouded by deceptive worldly promises.

The Risen Lord, Jesus Christ calls us to advance together with him on a mission which, for all its many challenges, leads to true happiness. However, maintaining contact with the Risen Lord is a choice. What we choose determines who we become. Choosing what is just, changes the landscape of our existential realities. This good choice empowers us to proceed along the pathways of virtue and develop the habits which promote Christian character.

Jesus’ sufferings and glorification by God serve to center our faith and hope in God. The Risen Lord accepted sufferings as an act of Redemption for all humankind. From this reassuring truth, we sense God’s providence, both in our personal current situations and in our struggles in the wider context of our corporate existence.

Peter in his first letter argues that the root of our faith must be the Resurrection of Jesus. It is essential for everyone in the Christian community to experience the risen Jesus alive and present in everyday life. (1 Peter 1:17-21)

The Bible describes how the chosen people encountered God in unexpected ways. The book of Genesis describes how Abraham, entertained three “angels”. (Genesis18: 1-15) In the same vein, the Acts of the Apostles describes how Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus got Saul’s attention by knocking him to the ground and striking him blind. (Acts 9:1-31)

The Gospel according to John, narrates a beautiful story of how on the third time Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead. God’s self-disclosure to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias was unexpected and radically different from the other encounters. “The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” At these words, “It is the Lord”, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water” (John 21: 1-19)

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” During the meal, “Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish”. The disciples realized that this stranger was Jesus, the risen Christ. It is reassuring to know that we can meet and experience the risen Lord through the “Breaking of the Bread,” as the Lord’s Supper was known then.

The incident further illustrates that Jesus is with us even when we do not recognize him. It teaches us that we have a Risen Saviour, One who personally walks with us in our daily paths and with whom we can talk with through prayer. He is the One who opens our minds to understand and respond to His Word.

The Risen Lord meets us on the road to our own Sea of Tiberias. We can also meet the Lord in the ordinary experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life seems disappointing and challenging for us. We have hopes and dreams about the future. It can be good health, positive family relationships, employment and financial security. These hopes and dreams are often shattered.

The story of the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead promises us, that Jesus will come to us in unfamiliar guises to support and strengthen us when we least expect Him. The moments as depicted by the Sea of Tiberias, come to us when we meet the Risen Christ on our life’s journey through rough times.

Please remember, Jesus is with us always. He is concerned about us. Jesus provides for us regardless of what life may bring to us. God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we may teach others about Him.

The Prophet Isaiah reassures us of the presence of the Lord in all circumstances of our lives. He said: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior”. (Isaiah 43:2-3) Jesus said: “I am with you always”. (Matthew 28:20) God wants to join us in our travels of life: “I am a Companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts”. (Psalms 119:63). “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there among them”. (Matthew 18:20)

We meet Jesus daily through our participation in the Eucharistic. We can also meet Jesus through our personal and family prayers and in the celebration of our family meals. All these meetings prepare and enable us to encounter the Risen Jesus living in all the people we meet.

Reflecting on the Sea of Tiberias experience, I realized that discouragement and hopelessness can throw any person into complete confusion and disillusion. In our state of hopelessness, Jesus Christ continues to walk with us. He continues to teach us his words of wisdom to open our minds to the realities of his truth. Jesus walks with us all the time. Is our faith strong enough to recognise Jesus?

Like the disciples of Jesus, our hope can be challenged. We can walk without hope and not recognise Jesus Christ in anything. Perhaps, we can reflect on some of the following questions: Do we recognise when we have an encounter with Jesus Christ in our lives? Do we believe and acknowledge Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Do we experience Jesus in our service to our brothers and sisters who are in great need? Do we recognise the presence of Jesus Christ in our relationship with each other? Do we have any memory of Jesus Christ in our lives? The disciples had a memory of Jesus and that was why they recognised him at the Breaking of the Bread. Therefore, with the perception of Jesus’ presence, let us walk with Jesus, talk with Him, depend on Him, worship Him, and tell others about Him.

In our moments of discouragement and hopelessness, may God open our eyes and minds to recognise Him and restore our hope and joy. This will help us to affirm that “the Lamb that was sacrificed is worthy to be given power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing” now forever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Fr. Cornelius Nwaogwugwu, CM.