ater on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberius, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I'm going fishing.' They replied, ‘We'll come with you.' They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. When it was already light, there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Haven't you caught anything, friends?' And when they answered, ‘No,' he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something.' So they threw the net out and could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.' At these words, ‘It is the Lord,' Simon Peter tied his outer garment round him (for he had nothing on) and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net with the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land. As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.' Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?'. They knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead. When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?' He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.' A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?' He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.' Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, ‘Do you love me?' and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. In all truth I tell you, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.' In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, ‘Follow me.'

(John 21:1-19 NJB)

Meditation for The Second Sunday After Easter
 

ack in the late 1970’s, or thereabouts, I stumbled across a most intriguing novel, by an author whose name I unfortunately no longer remember. What I do recall is that the author was a Slavic national and the cover was starkly drawn in blood red, white and black with the Soviet hammer and sickle superimposed upon a Russian Orthodox Cross. The title of the book was “Kristov’s Testament”, and although a novel, it had a profound affect upon me and my faith.

The story that the book told was a man named Kristov, a Russian by birth and a Communist Party member and an operative of the KGB by choice. Early in his career, Kristov is chosen by his supervisor for a special mission. He is to go undercover and enter the seminary, become a priest, eventually a monk, and a bishop within the Russian Orthodox Church, all the while reporting back to his handlers any information that he would learn within the context of pastoral counseling, Church Councils, Sacramental Confession, etc. Believing unquestioningly in the Party and the wisdom of his handlers, young Kristov embraced his mission and set about to enter the seminary. Although suffering a minor setback in being refused the privilege of becoming a monk, his handlers advised him to take a wife and that he could be just as useful by being a Bishop’s confessor as he could be being a bishop, himself.

So Kristov married a woman who cooked and cleaned and mended for him. A woman who bore him children and lovingly cooked him borscht. A woman who believed the greatest honor that God could give to her in this world was to be the wife of a priest. Kristov loathed her. He loathed her foul tasting borscht. He loathed his life as a priest. He thought his people were fools. He served them the Divine Liturgy, and administered the sacraments to them, and mocked them behind their backs and reported them to the secret police whenever the opportunity presented itself.

One day, after twenty or thirty years as a priest, and an undercover agent of the KGB, something changed. At the Divine Liturgy, Kristov’s eyes were opened. He encountered the Risen Christ in the most holy sacrament. His response was most interesting. He said, “Oh! You really are here. It’s about time.” That was it. That was all. It was hardly the ecstatic mutterings one might expect from someone who had just had an encounter with the Living God. But perhaps that is precisely why the scene seemed so very real and understandable to me, and why it holds so much power in my memory to this day.

Something else happened to Kristov in those few words spoken to the Risen Christ. He discovered that he loved his people. For the first time he realized the privilege that he had, as a priest, to present Christ in the Sacrament. He realized that he loved his wife so intensely he could not put it into words. He hoped and even prayed that she would be making some of her precious and delicious borscht. In short, encountering the Risen Christ, experiencing the reality of the resurrection made a difference in Kristov’s life. It changed him. And that is precisely what we see in the readings for today. We see that the resurrection of Jesus makes a real difference in the lives of real people.

In the Gospel for today, Jesus finds the Eleven off fishing and having caught nothing all night long, at His word, a miraculous catch of fish happens. But more than this occurs. Jesus steps up and meets the needs that they have. He prepares a table for them, beside the waters. He fills them with precisely everything that they need. He calls them friends and draws them into intimate fellowship with Himself. He takes Peter, who three times denied so much as even knowing Him, and forgives, restores and reinstates him to his position as the rock, the leader of the apostolic band of brothers. Encountering the Risen Christ makes a difference. It changes people.

In the reading from Acts, we see both Saul and Ananias, encountering the Risen Christ and having their lives dramatically changed. Saul, meets Christ and in the process is converted from a hater and persecutor of the Church to her greatest evangelist and proponent. Ananias meets the Risen Lord and goes from a fearful, solitary figure to one who stands face to face with the one who tried to exterminate the church and in the Name of Christ performs a miracle. Encountering the Risen Christ makes a difference. It changes people.

It still does. It may be, like my old friend Kristov, that we meet Christ in a new and personal way in the Sacrament. It may be in reading His Word, or in hearing it preached. It may be in a friend’s or a relative’s voice. He continues to reach out to us, calling us to Him, in any number of ways. We need to be expectant of encounters with Him and we need to open our eyes, ears hearts and minds to it when it does happen. And then we need to respond appropriately, for, “It is the Lord.”
 

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

All Meditations ©2004-2007 Randolph A. Brown (IP not subject to Fair Use Clause). Permission will not be given for reprint†. Previous Meditations 2nd Sunday After Easter (April 22, 2007) Thomas / Low Sunday (April 15, 2007) Easter, The Feast of Feasts (April 8, 2007) Good Friday (April 6, 2007) Palm Sunday (April 1, 2007) 5th Sunday in Lent (March 25, 2007) 4th Sunday in Lent (March 18, 2007) 3rd Sunday in Lent (March 11, 2007) 2nd Sunday in Lent (March 4, 2007) 1st sunday in lent (February 25, 2007) Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (February 21, 2007) Last Sunday After the Epiphany / Quinquagesima (February 18, 2007) 6th Sunday After the Epiphany / Septugesima (February 11, 2007) 5th Sunday After the Epiphany / Septugesima (February 4, 2007) 4th Sunday After the Epiphany (January 28, 2007)   †Regarding the copyright, Bp. Brown would like us to mention that it is not his intention to be stingy. It's only that he has future plans for the writings which do not facilitate their being shared at this time.   Personal Blog of Abp. Brown: