Catechism Links[1]
CCC 642-644,
857, 995-996:
the apostles and disciples as witnesses of the Resurrection
CCC 553,
641, 881, 1429:
the risen Christ and Peter
CCC 1090,
1137-1139, 1326:
the heavenly liturgy
 |
| “The Denial of St Peter “ by Gerrit van Honthorst, 1622-24 |
Reading 1: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
When the captain and the
court officers had brought the apostles in
and made them stand before
the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
“We gave you strict orders,
did we not,
to stop teaching in that
name?
Yet you have filled Jerusalem
and want to bring this man’s
blood upon us.”
But Peter and the apostles
said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than
men.
The God of our ancestors
raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by
hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right
hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel
We are witnesses of these
things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom
God has given to those who obey him.”
The Sanhedrin ordered the
apostles
to stop speaking in the name
of Jesus, and dismissed them.
So they left the presence of
the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been
found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the
sake of the name.
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Commentary on Acts
5:27-32, 40b-41
As in the previous case when they
had cured the lame beggar, the Apostles (this time all of them, not just Peter
and John) are brought before the Sanhedrin. It is interesting to see that the
elders and scribes fear to speak the name of Jesus in these proceedings (“stop
teaching in that name”).
Peter now assumes his role as
leader of the Apostles and again boldly professes his faith that Jesus, in
whose name they speak and whose name the Sanhedrin fear to speak, is the Son of
God (“We must obey God rather than man”).
While we do not hear the rationale
from Gamaliel (St.Paul’s mentor) that killing the Apostles would serve no
useful purpose (Acts
5:34-39), and we do not hear that they are scourged (Acts 5:40a), we pick
up the tale of the Apostles after they were beaten.
Gamaliel was indeed wise,
recognizing that, even before it formally existed, the blood of martyrs is seed
for new members of the Church. Indeed, even persecution has a positive effect
on the faith and fervor of the Apostles (“So they left the presence of the
Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the
sake of the name.”)
CCC: Acts 5:28 597; Acts
5:29 450,
2242, 2256; Acts 5:30 597; Acts
5:41 432
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12,
13
R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have
rescued me.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will extol you, O LORD, for
you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies
rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up
from the netherworld;
you preserved me from among
those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing praise to the LORD, you
his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy
name.
For his anger lasts but a
moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters
in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear, O LORD, and have pity
on me;
O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into
dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will
I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
or:
R. Alleluia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps
30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
This song of
thanksgiving highlights the theme that God intervenes for his faithful.
While the psalm remembers the Diaspora and Israel’s deliverance, we see
it also refers to Christ’s saving mission.
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Reading II: Revelation 5:11-14
I, John, looked and heard the
voices of many angels
who surrounded the throne
and the living creatures and
the elders.
They were countless in
number, and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain
to receive power and riches,
wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and
blessing.”
Then I heard every creature
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in
the sea,
everything in the universe,
cry out:
“To the one who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory
and might,
forever and ever.”
The four living creatures
answered, “Amen, “
and the elders fell down and
worshiped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rev
5:11-14
The profuse adoration and praise
for the Lamb is referring to an earlier question. The chapter begins with:
"Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"
(referring to God’s scroll fixed with seven seals). The scroll in this case
represents God’s plan for salvation. The angels, who act as an honor guard,
reply listing all (seven) of those blessings which apply to God. So the
response we hear in our scripture today answers that question: “Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor
and glory and blessing."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel:
Longer Form: John 21:1-19
At that time, Jesus revealed
himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias
He revealed himself in this
way.
Together were Simon Peter,
Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee ,
Zebedee’s sons, and two
others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I
am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also
will come with you.”
So they went out and got into
the boat,
but that night they caught
nothing.
When it was already dawn,
Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not
realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them,
“Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the
net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not
able to pull it in
because of the number of
fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus
loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for
he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in
the boat,
for they were not far from
shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the
fish.
When they climbed out on
shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with
fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and
dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred
fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so
many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come,
have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples
dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was
the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the
bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time
Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the
dead.
When they had finished
breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you
love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my
lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a
second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you
love me?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my
sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third
time,
“Simon, son of John, do you
love me?”
Peter was distressed that
Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said
to him,
“Lord, you know everything;
you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my
sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself
and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you
will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress
you
and lead you where you do not
want to go.”
He said this signifying by
what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he
said to him, “Follow me.”
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Commentary on Jn
21:1-19
The Gospel from St. John gives us
the Lord’s third appearance to the disciples. Again, he is not at first
recognized. In typical Johannine fashion, the first to recognize the Lord was
the disciple whom Jesus loved, presumed to be St. John himself.
Without the Lord being present,
they have caught no fish. Jesus tells them where to cast the net and,
indeed, they net a great number of fish (153 probably symbolic of universal
mission of the Church - the total species of fish known at the time or the sum
of numbers from 1-17). Peter is so excited he jumps in and swims to shore,
discovering Jesus with a fish already cooking and bread, a eucharistic reference.
When they are joined by the other disciples, they were so overawed that they
could not even speak. Then the Lord broke the bread.
Following the revelation story
above, Jesus focuses on Peter, making sure he understands his role in the
foundation of the Church. The triple confession of Peter reverses his earlier
denials of the Lord on the night of the passion (John 18: 16, 25, 27). This is
also a key passage, identified by the Church as Christ’s post-resurrection
assignment of Peter to be the shepherd of the Church, essentially establishing
the beginning of apostolic succession.
CCC: Jn 21:4 645,
645, 659; Jn 21:7 448,
645; Jn 21:9 645; Jn
21:12 1166; Jn
21:13-15 645; Jn
21:15-17 553,
881, 1429, 1551; Jn 21:18-19 618
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Or
Shorter Form: John
21:1-14
At that time, Jesus revealed
himself to his disciples at the Sea
of Tiberias
He revealed himself in this
way.
Together were Simon Peter,
Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee ,
Zebedee’s sons, and two
others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “
am going fishing.”
They said to him, “e also
will come with you.”
So they went out and got into
the boat,
but that night they caught
nothing.
When it was already dawn,
Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not
realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them,
“Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the
net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not
able to pull it in
because of the number of
fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus
loved said to Peter, “(It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for
he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in
the boat,
for they were not far from
shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the
fish.
When they climbed out on
shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with
fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and
dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred
fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so
many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come,
have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples
dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was
the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the
bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time
Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the
dead.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 21:1-14
In this shorter form, the focus is
on Christ’s third appearance and his revelation as newly resurrected. The
reference: “This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead,” may have a deeper meaning in Hebrew as
we know that in order to express the most complete form of a word it was
repeated three times (i.e. rather than holy, holier, holiest the word was
repeated “holy, holy, holy”). With his third appearance in St. John’s Gospel,
Christ revealed himself completely to the disciples. This is coupled in the
longer form with St. Peter’s three affirmations of love for the Lord,
presumably to atone for his three-fold denial in the courtyard. (John 18: 16, 25, 27)
CCC: Jn 21:4 645,
645, 659; Jn 21:7 448,
645; Jn 21:9 645; Jn
21:12 1166; Jn
21:13-15 645
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As
we begin our third week of Easter, we are reminded just how far we have
come. In the Gospel we find Peter, who
had just flung himself into the water to get to Jesus quickly, confronted by
the Lord: "Simon,
son of John, do you love me?"
What
must Peter have thought? Scripture gives
us a clue. We recall that the night
Jesus was betrayed, Peter was asked three times if he was one of the Lord’s
followers. Three times Peter denied he
even knew Jesus. Now, probably filled
with guilt, Peter is asked three times if he loves the Lord.
Then
comes the mission, the mission that Jesus had for Peter almost from the
beginning: "Tend
my sheep." Peter, a fisherman, was to become a shepherd. And we understand instantly who the sheep are
within this metaphor, it is the flock of the Christian faithful, the Church.
And
what would we say and hear from Jesus under the same circumstances? We, who by our words and actions have denied
the Lord many times, what would we say if Jesus asked: “Do you love me?” We would say, “Yes Lord, I love you.” And what
would he ask of us?
That
is not a question we will answer here, it is the question we ponder. What does the Lord want from us? Upon St. Peter the Lord placed a tremendous
burden, to shepherd the Church through its infant years, years when first the
Sanhedrin and then the Romans would try to destroy it. But what does the Lord want from us?
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture is “The Denial of St Peter “ by Gerrit van Honthorst, 1622-24.
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
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