Scripture Reflections for the Third Sunday of Easter

“we have to find the delicate balance to be bold, assertive, public, ambitious in our faith without ever being violent, manipulative or imposing. We have to resist when the worlds turns dark and demonic...but we can never do it in a way that undermines the gospel itself”

“a very legitimate way to characterize all sin is bad praise. Human beings begin to worship not God, watch how Adam and Eve stop listening to God, they stop following God's commandments, and we worship something less than God”

“stability of heart means that, though life circumstances may change, I must remain true to loving God first and then have the stability of heart to find ways to “tend sheep” and “feed lambs,” in changed circumstances according to the call God gives me”

“That’s all Jesus wants, is our love. He just wants us. He just wants our time. He just wants us to put Him before all else, and He will come back to us as many times as necessary. He comes to us as many times as necessary – to save us, to offer redemption, to make things right.”

“When we are in the presence of Christ, what we have been, what we are now, and what we will be are one”

“To share God’s love with others is in fact what Jesus asked Peter to do. And that is what God asks each of us to do as well, through both our words and our actions, today and every day.”

“The Lord continues to reveal the Resurrection to us, often right in those moments when we are immobilised on our crosses – perhaps we need to be immobilised so that we’re not too busy, too impatient to see”

“Peter knew failure and what it is to fish all night and catch nothing. He knew the smell of the charcoal fire. He knew in his bones that his strength was in Christ alone. He knew what it was to be marked with the sign of faith.”

“part of the growth for us as Christians is not just that we stop denying the Lord in various ways but also that we say that we love the Lord and that we act out that love, by accepting the mission that Christ gives us”

“Superficial changes can be a useful reminder of the possibility of inner change, the change that is God’s gradual possession of our hearts and minds. The desire to be possessed by divine love is there in every human being”

“The mission of the whole Church is to be fishers of men, drawing people of every nation to Christ, to gather together his scattered sheep and feed them”

“It is the fire of Easter! It lights in Peter’s heart. It lights in every heart where the Paschal candle is lit! It is the flame of love! The fishermen carry it in the boat: it is an eternal flame! It can never be extinguished!”

“We show our love for God through feeding, providing, allowing ourselves to be instruments. We follow Jesus by being a conduit of his abundant love”

“So it always goes when the Church is operating on its own terms, according to its own likes, its own mind, our own efforts. We will catch nothing...The Church's task is to gather in the nations always under the direction of the Lord”

“Christianity is a relationship to a person. How wonderful that Jesus says...'do you love me?' Christians, that's the question we all hear. What is the quality of our relationship to him?”

“So what do these fish stand for? The universal quality of the Church's mission. Whom does Jesus intend to gather into his Church? Everybody. Every nation. There is no one that escapes his missionary outreach.”

“But this Gospel is not only about the primacy of Peter. It is also about the primacy of love. During the “audience” between Jesus and Peter (vv. 15-19), Peter’s ritual re-confirmation as chief shepherd all revolves around his love for the Lord.”

“Jesus knows that fear can make us turn inward and focus on ourselves but his call is to move beyond fear to love. Love calls us to focus on others.”

“I felt as if it was Jesus speaking directly to me, telling me where to look to find the fish, where to find the root of my problem. Jesus came to me where I was, in a way I did not recognize at first, but then realized it was Him working through someone else.”