Weekly Homilies

Alleluia! Love is Alive (John 21:1-19)

May 01, 2022 Fr. Mark Suslenko Season 5 Episode 17
Weekly Homilies
Alleluia! Love is Alive (John 21:1-19)
Transcript

Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. We are part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, and this is Episode 17 of Season 5 for the Third Sunday of Easter: May 1, 2022. Our Gospel reading is from John, Chapter 21, verses 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord

“Alleluia!! Love is Alive,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

When I was in grade school, back in the dark ages of chalk and blackboards, there was a common exercise that some of the teachers would ask us to complete and they would put on the board a series of words or phrases. And the idea was to pick those that are associated together and create lists of associated topics or ideas. Well, today's homily is going to be something like that association exercise. I'd like to offer you four things to ponder during the homily and see if you can begin to see the connection between each of those four things. 

The first one is fishing. Fishing. The second one is eating breakfast. Eating breakfast. The third one is, do you love me? Do you love me? And the fourth one is, follow me. Follow me. So we have fishing, eating breakfast, do you love me, and follow me. 

Saint Oscar Romero, who is one of our contemporary saints, was the Archbishop of San Salvador. He was raised at a level of Saint because he was martyred for his faith and what he represented. He said this, "The Son of Man died on the cross to cleanse God's image." Cleanse God's image. Soiled by humanity. Soiled by humanity. Humanity so enslaved, so selfish, so sinful, so that Jesus Christ died on the cross to cleanse God's image because what we have done dirtied it, covered it, moved away from it because we're so enslaved, so self-focused and so sinful. 

So could it be that over the centuries of human existence, we’ve created structures and systems and ways of conducting business and ways of pursuing life that really enslave us to those structures and those systems? That keeps us more self-focused than outward-focused. That can be engulfed in our sinfulness stemming from pride and other sins of that nature.

And could it be that the risen Christ is present right before us at all times in front of us and at our side, but we're unable able to see that presence, because of our preconceived notions, our preconceived ideas, our agendas, and what we feel may be important to us and the way the world wants us to live and believe? 

Could it be that Jesus Christ, the Risen Christ, is with us all along? And the answer to that is yes. Jesus Christ is present to us 24/7 in our lives. The Risen Christ doesn't come and go as he wishes or pleases. God is always present and reveals himself in the ordinary events of our lives. But through faith, we need to develop the lens and the heart and the soul to see it, to reach out for it, to believe it.

In those ordinary events of our lives, sacraments are born. Because God takes the ordinary and makes it holy. The ordinary events of our lives, like eating our breakfast, like fishing, like looking at a child at play, of taking up a game of catch with one of our children, of looking into the eyes of another human being and seeing just not someone else, but a uniquely gifted soul who has had a journey that has brought them from one place to another, to the place where we have met them today. That as you look out at creation, we don't just see flowers and trees and listen to birds and feel the wind. But that all that is around us begins to sparkle with the wonder and the glory of the Risen Christ. That when someone who is hurting and requests our ear, that we create the space in our lives to open ourselves to truly listen and encountered the beauty of that moment and to offer the hand of compassion and love. 

You see if we step out of our pre-programmed ways of seeing things and the way life often carries us to open our eyes to bigger things. God's sacramental moments abound at all times. All we have to do is stop, look and listen. And in those very simple moments of our lives, those moments that we're driving down the road or conducting other things we must be called to do, God is there. 

Maybe that's what happened when Jesus met the disciples in today's gospel. He didn't look like he did the last time they saw him. He wasn't the same physical person. And so for awhile, they didn't even know who that man was who was talking to them about their catch of the day. But as they spent time with his presence and as they begin to converse, I want to suggest and believe that maybe what they began to reflect upon was another experience that they had. And that was the night before Jesus died.

When Jesus took ordinary bread and ordinary wine, and transformed it into his most precious body and blood. That as they partook of that sacred meal, they felt the presence of their friend inside and knew that something absolutely has changed. And maybe as that stranger was talking to them in the ordinary moments of that day, that spark was ignited once again, because God comes not only to us in the sacramental moments of our lives, the sacrament of every moment of our lives, but also most completely in the formal sacraments of the church. Whereas you and I look at the bread and the wine, even after it's transformed into the body and blood of Christ, it still looks like bread and wine, but it is no longer that. It has the very sacred and divine presence of God at its essence. Just as that stranger did along the way.

And so as we begin to look and we begin to listen, all of those moments that we encounter God, all serve to connect us to a presence greater than ourselves. They beckon us. It's those moments when we're doing something very ordinary, but it just feels so absolutely right. Those moments when we're conducting the business of our lives and we're lifted up in awe. It could be simply the tripping of a bird, or the ray of sun coming through the window, or as we look at the mountain or the vastness of ocean, these moments of connection begin to speak to us, if we listen. And in these moments of connection, we begin to see what is holy. And we begin to touch the sacred of life, where people aren't things that we use, but people that we are in relationship with that the world isn’t something that I can just dispense with, but something that I am called to love and have an association with. And then through all of those things, God is whispering to us, " Do you love me?"

And when he asks us that question, he's really asking us, "Do you love the holy? Do you love, love itself? Do you love the love that flows through your veins, the life that I gave you and created for you? Do you love the essence of your being and the essence of your neighbor? Do you love the bird that flies in the air or the tree that grows to the sky? Do you love me?"

And if we respond, "yes," then God says, "Follow me. Follow me." 

And as we begin to think about what that means, to follow him, it means to take what we have encountered and bring it out to a world that has yet to see, to ears that have yet to hear, to hearts that have yet to love. It means to take what we have encountered and share it with others. 

Our offertory hymn today something worth listening to. Love is alive. Love is alive. Archbishop Desmond Tutu some of you may remember hearing about him over the course of your lives. He says, "When we take God's love with our brothers and sisters out into the world, there is no tyrant that can resist us." Think about this, no tyrant that can resist us. No oppression that cannot end, no oppression that cannot end, no hunger that cannot be fed, no wound that cannot be healed, no hatred that cannot be turned into love, and no dream that cannot be fulfilled. You see, all we have to do is bring God's love out into the world with our brothers and sisters, transformation can occur. And those various things that we see as stumbling blocks can become opportunities. And those things that we see as dead ends can become new beginnings and everything can be transformed if we follow Jesus.  

And so love is alive. We are called today to bring that message to the world. Because God does come in the simple moments of our everyday existence. When we're fishing, when we're eating breakfast and in those moments, he asks us, "do you love me?" And when we respond in the affirmative, he says, "Follow me." Are we ready and willing to take up that task? .

Father Mark Suslenko  is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Learn more about our parish community at www.isidoreandmaria.org. And follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our music comes free of charge from Blue Dot Sessions in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m Carol Vassar. Thanks for joining us.