Easter Friday

‘It is the Lord.’ (John 21:1-14)

Jesus reveals himself to the disciples for the third time since the Resurrection.  And once again, there are the same three images that occur: Jesus appears to the disciples in times of fear and futility; the disciples do not immediately recognize him; but the disciples do recognize him in the breaking of the bread.’

These experiences offer us hope.  They offer us a model for our own lives.  What happened in the lives of those first disciples has happened in the lives of his followers throughout the centuries, and happens in our own lives today as well. 

We, too, have times of fear, times when nothing seems to be going as it should, or as we would want.  In those times, when we face our own struggles in life, we, too, can be reassured that Jesus will come to us, too.

Second, even in those times when we cannot see the Lord through our pain, he will call to us, and our eyes will be opened, if we allow him to open our eyes.

And third, Jesus is made known to us each and every time we gather around the Table of the Lord and celebrate Eucharist.  That’s the power we Catholics have in this most precious sacrament.  When we are struggling, we need to come to Jesus’ real presence in the Blessed Sacrament and allow him to heal us and guide us.

Jesus, as he did for his first disciples, reveals himself to us again and again.  May we open ourselves to him, and allow him to lead us ever closer to the Father’s Kingdom of true and lasting peace.