Don’t Turn Back

13 Apr

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.”  (Jn 21:1-3a)

The Gospel at today’s Mass is an extremely powerful one, in my humble opinion, for, in it, we see our frail human nature.

What had just happened to the Lord’s disciples?

They saw their Lord and Master taken from them and crucified as a common criminal.  Many of them tried to disappear into the wind so that they would not be next on the Roman’s lists.  Terror was running rampant.

Then, the unimaginable began happening.  Jesus began appearing to people.

Even with this news that the Lord had risen from the dead, His apostles, apparently, began to waver in their faith.  So much so that they began to look toward their old lives.

In today’s Gospel, Peter, one of the first-called fishermen, decided that it was time to return to the boats, to the fish, to the sea, to the “old” way of life.  He announced his decision to some of the others and they agreed to come with him.

And, as it happened when they were first called, they encountered the Lord through a miraculous catch.

At that, they knew that the Lord was alive and that their lives really never would be the same again.

It is often the same with us.

We go through many things in our lives, through many ordeals, through many trials, as well as many joys and triumphs.  They often change us.  For a while.

But, after a while, we begin to drift back to our old way of lives.

This cycle has got to stop.

If we did our “jobs” correctly this past Lent, we were a different people by the time Easter came around.  We cannot allow ourselves to go back to an old way of life.  Instead, we have to continue on the path of righteousness because we still have much change that needs to be accomplished in our lives.

Next Lent should find us at a higher level in our spiritual lives than this Lent did.  Next Easter should find us a better people than this Easter.  We should always be moving ahead, never falling back.

FAITH ACTION:  Did you make some strides in your faith life during the season of Lent?  Now that Easter Sunday has come and gone, have you found yourself slipping back into some of your old ways?  Make a firm promise to yourself not to backslide but, rather, to continue in the right direction.