The disciples, the apostles, had just had three years of the best seminary training possible.
Three years with the high priest himself.
But it all seemed for naught because now it was back to business as usual.
Even after the experience of the crucifixion and the resurrection,
now the apostles are back at their old jobs as fishermen.
And it says they were hard at it all night and caught nothing.
They returned to a life that was ordinary, flat, and dark.
In St. John's Gospel, darkness connotes the distance from Christ, a lack of grace.
And light confers the presence of Christ and grace.
And so the apostles start out in that spiritual blindness, without Christ.
But then it says, when it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore.
Again, enter Jesus Christ, exit Satan.
Enter light of the world, exit darkness.
So light and truth arrive with Christ.
Now, in the darkness, sin and evil have the upper hand.
But in light, it's grace and truth that gain the momentum.
And what happens immediately is Peter throws on some clothes, one translation says.
And he jumps into the water.
And it's odd that he puts on clothes and then goes into the water.
Well, John's Gospel is always hearkening back to the book of Genesis.
Like, the book of Genesis begins,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John's Gospel begins,
In the beginning was the Word.
Genesis is about creation.
John's Gospel is about recreation, restoration, redemption.
And when Peter puts on...
When Peter puts on clothes, it's hearkening back to when Adam walked with God in the garden before the fall.
But after the fall, he recognized that he was naked.
He was ashamed.
They sewed fig leaves together.
So Peter putting on clothes is realizing that he is naked in the presence of God, in the presence of Christ.
And he quickly throws on some clothes.
When Peter was in the boat, it was night.
He was not ashamed.
He was comfortable with his sin.
But in the presence of Christ, the light of the world, Peter is ashamed.
He realizes that he has sinned.
He sees his shortcomings.
He has denied Christ not once, not twice, but three times.
Now, at daybreak, Christ enters.
And with the arrival of Christ also comes the awareness of sin.
Like they say, the first prompting of the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.
So the arrival of grace not only brings divine life, but also that conviction of our own sinfulness.
And our Lord questions Peter,
Peter, do you love me more than these?
Actually, Jesus says, Simon.
Do you love me more than these?
Simon was the name of Peter before his conversion.
And Jesus addresses him by that name.
Simon, do you love me more than these?
Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Feed my lambs.
Simon, do you love me more than these?
Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Tend my sheep.
Simon, do you love me?
And so Peter.
Peter reaffirms his love three times because he had three times denied him.
And Jesus restores Peter's mission.
Tend my sheep.
You know, govern the flock of the church.
Three times Peter denies him.
Three times Peter must affirm his love.
Jesus Christ leads Peter through the process of repentance.
A transformation.
From denial to love.
Denial to love.
Denial to love.
Affirming his love.
And then sent on mission and restored his dignity.
His mission.
And that gospel ends when our Lord says to Peter,
When you were younger, you used to 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's telling Peter that in the spiritual life, you are no longer in charge.
Your life is not about you.
Your life is not about your will, but about God's will.
It's not about your own ego, but it's about the church.
Your life must be surrendered to a power greater than yourself.
And and.
And Peter.
You will be taken on a divine adventure, a spiritual adventure.
You will be that will lead you to eternal life.
And so applying that to ourselves.
You and I have also had a privileged formation.
We've received the Catholic faith.
It's been passed on to us.
You know, education, retreats, all kinds of means that that God.
Has given us this privileged formation.
But sometimes you and I return to living in the darkness.
Outside the light of the resurrection.
But this Easter season is meant to draw us out of the darkness and more and more into the light of his truth and grace.
Okay.
More and more away from sin and more and more to take us up into that divine life and bring us more fully.
And bring us more fully.
into the light of his truth.
Okay, so we pray that we might follow that grace of Christ,
that Easter grace, leading us from the darkness of sin and shame
to that glory of the resurrection.