Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 31

Read Ahead:  John 21:1-19

Restoring Our Relationship with Christ Who is Risen

Unlike Christmas, celebrating the Resurrection can be confusing. In a matter of days, Jesus goes from being praised like a king as he enters into Jerusalem and enjoying the Passover meal with his disciples, to being condemned, abandoned, and murdered by the Empire. Everything can seem in vain, and many disciples likely were fearful, given that their beloved leader and teacher was deemed an enemy of the government. Would they too be labeled as such?

In this context, our first reading make sense. Peter, called by Jesus to be one of his first disciples (John 1:35-42), has returned to Galilee to do what is familiar to him: fishing. As you enter into the scene, imagine what he must have been experiencing, and how it all changed when he sees and recognizes Jesus. What might his story invite us into as we consider racial justice?

I imagine I am back in Galilee where it all began, where we first met that man Jesus of Nazareth. I do not know what has happened to Jesus’ body and I decided it was easier to just return home, to forget it had happened at all. Taking on the role of Peter, I tell the others that I am going fishing because this rote task is comforting to me as I face my mixed emotions. What are those emotions? What is stirring in me?

I know I was not faithful to Jesus in his condemnation, and I have replayed that story over and over. Did I see any part of the crucifixion or did I run away? Was I far in the distance hearing his cries or hidden away? How do I feel about this?

What did it feel like to stay up all night fishing? How was the weather? Am I comforted or scared throughout the night? Do I think about memories of Jesus? What emerges from my relationship with him? What stands out? How do I feel about it? Grateful and nostalgic? Confused and depressed? What emotions stay with me? Do I tell the others or just continue to cast the net again and again?

What happens when the whole night continues and I catch nothing?

It is morning. I am tired from hard work on the sea with nothing to show for it. Perhaps that’s how all of Jesus’ ministry feels to me now. Suddenly a man calls out and asks me to lower the nets once again. Something about him feels familiar, so I do it. Suddenly the fish are overflowing in the nets, and I realize it is Jesus. I jump in the water and swim as fast as I can.

What happens when I encounter him? Does he embrace me? Am I distant or full of joy? Am I confused at all?

After breakfast, he and I speak separately, and he asks me, “do you love me?” three times. How do I respond each time? What is happening in me? What emotion stirs as he asks a second and third time? What does he call me into? Stay for a moment in the intimacy in this restoration of my relationship with him, and converse with him about what was so painful about the cross and resurrection.

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In Jesus’ resurrection, he restores any relationships that have been broken with him. So too, he allows us to engage what is difficult, complex, and confusing about our relationships with one another. So too it is with racism: he redeems the suffering that he experiences in the sufferings of our world today:

• In the violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;
• In the pain experienced for African Americans as they relive the traumas of the death of George Floyd in the criminal proceedings of George Floyd;
• In the xenophobia and exploitation of Latin Americans, both those who have immigrated and those who have always lived in the United States;
• In the racial profiling and discrimination, many Muslims face because they are perceived
  as a “terrorist”;
• In the erasure experienced by Indigenous populations in our country and around the world.

Where else does Christ suffer in the world?

As I revisit the scene, I remember that none of us are perfect – even those like me trying to commit to racial justice. I recall a moment where I, like Peter, could have stood with someone or a group suffering racism but did not. What led me to choose not to? How do I feel as I recall it now?

I recognize Jesus transformed: what does he look like? How does he invite me into healing with the person or groups I chose not to be with? What does he call me to as I sit on the shore with him? He asks me if I love him three times. How do I respond? How do I want to respond in the future? I share all of this with him, and he calls me to restoration and action. What might the kernels of that action be?

Resource: Pescador de Hombres

Questions for Reflection: