Today we read from the 21st chapter of St. John’s Gospel. For many scholars it looks as though this chapter had been added on to the finished Gospel. The point of today’s Gospel is to show us that belief in the resurrection is not enough unless belief is translated into actions that transform our lives. The resurrection does indeed mean that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples. Now we are to see the transforming power of Christ at work in Peter. He denied his Master. On Easter Day Jesus had accepted him without recrimination, but now Peter is given a second opportunity to affirm his faith. Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love Me?†Peter’s failure is not taken lightly, for he had denied Jesus three times. Now he asserts his love three times as he experiences Christ’s forgiveness. The resurrection has the power to heal painful memories that we bury within us unexpressed. The resurrection for Peter means not only forgiveness but a call to action. This fisherman is given the new task of caring for Christ’s Church by imitating the Good Shepherd. The criterion for caring is Jesus’ own love. Now Peter will once again have the opportunity to prove that love by laying down his life, as he once had promised to do, when he will stretch out his hands in martyrdom.
We celebrate Easter for 50 days because it is the centre of our faith. It proclaims the great mystery that Jesus has ovecrome death and promises eternal life. But how does the resurrection work in us? It gives us the grace, like Peter, to stand before the courts and proclaim our faith to society. We are Christians because of the resurrection. But unless we are open to the power of the risen Christ and show by our actions that our lives can be transformed, there is little point in worshipping at Mass.