MEMORY TO BE RETAINED

On Good Friday, we witnessed how the Pharisees, Scribes and Elders in Jerusalem, rather in Sanhedrin conspired against Jesus to get Him out of the world. They generously unleashed as much lie as possible to Pontius Pilate to get Jesus crucified publically. On this Third Sunday of Easter, in the first reading we see that the same Sanhedrin coming up with another lie to hide their wicked act. They tell the apostles, “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28). It was they who killed Jesus, now they are claiming innocence by accusing the apostles of preaching wrongly about them as murderers of Jesus. On Good Friday they were not afraid to tell lies but today after their lie is exposed to the people, they come up with another lie to hide their past lie. This is how the sin spirals: one lie leads to another lie, one sin leads to another sin. Thus, the only way to put an end for the spiralling of sin (lie) is by confessing and getting forgiveness.

In the second part of the Gospel (Jn 21:15-18), we witness Jesus and Peter having a serious confidential talk about Peter’s leadership of the Church. Jesus interrogates Peter thrice about his love for Him. On the third time Peter gets emotional, probably he is reminded of his three denial on Holy Thursday. Here we need to note that Jesus never accuses Peter for denying Him on Holy Thursday. In fact, Jesus Himself had foretold that peter would deny Him thrice and later peter would follow Him till the end (Jn 13:36-38). Thus, the fall of Peter on Holy Thursday was a happy fall (felix culpa), because of which peter’s life was preserved and now he is ready to head the church. The three interrogation of Jesus reminds peter that even with the privilege being ‘the first pope’ he should never forget his fall. The memory of the past fall is torment to one but it will help the person to be vigilant and humble. Remember, the risen Jesus with all His glorious body chose to retain the mark of crucifixion in his hands, legs and side. Peter is forgiven for his denial, in the same way the murderers of Jesus are forgiven but never forgotten. The forgiveness that leads to forgetfulness will make the person to fall again in the same way, into the same sin. On the contrary, the one who treasures his or her fall even after the reception of forgiveness, will be cautious to fall into the same sin again.  And so, peter is gently told in three interrogation with Jesus that the memory of his fall should help him not to do the same sin again. Today, the modern culture is taken up by slogan, “forgive and forget.” Jesus proclaimed forgiveness but never about forgetfulness. He insisted more on memory to be cautious. His command to celebrate mass as His memorial shows that it is only with the memory of the past one can be guided in the present to be fruitful in the future. Some people may have psychological or physical inability to keep the memory. That is understandable, but no one should freely opt to forget or do nothing to improve one’s forgetfulness despite knowing that one’s forgetfulness is not related to any of his or her psychic and physical inability.

In the first part of the Gospel (Jn 21:1-13), we witness the combination of two incidents which had happened when Jesus was alive: i) the call of Peter and the apostles to be fishers of Men and ii) the Multiplication of bread. Usually, the fishes are caught in big amount during night and in the deep sea. Conversely, in today’s Gospel the fishes are caught during day break (Jn 21:4) and near seashore (100 yards away from the shore – Jn 21:8). Thus, the catch of large number of fishes is a miracle. In this event, Peter is the hero. He initiates the thought of going for fishing (v. 3), he jumps into the sea to push the net to the shore (v. 7-8) and he gets the fish from the nets for roasting (v. 11). The boat signifies the Church, the shore implies the final destination of the Church which is heaven (Jesus) and the fishermen in the boat are pastors of the Church with Peter, the Pope as their head. This incident clearly shows that it is only with the aid of the Church one can get to the shore. Hence, there is no point in debating which is the true church, we have only one Church, the Catholic Church which is rowing under the leadership of the Pope.

The catch of fish concludes with the breakfast, the breaking of bread, the Holy Mass. Earlier they listened to His word to catch fish, now they are breaking the bread with Him in the Mass. This is what happens in today’s liturgy, we first listen to His word and later get nourished by His body: Word of God and Eucharist. The same thing happens on the way to Emmaus: breaking the Word and breaking the Bread. Thus, it is necessary in the post-resurrection era to constantly listen to His Word together with His Body and Blood (Eucharist). It is only by listening to His Word and communicating His Body we learn to repent and seek forgiveness for our past sins. It is only by listening to His Word and communicating His Body we learn to forgive and retain memory. May we partake in the celebration of Holy Eucharist as many times as possible to stop the spiralling of sinning. Remember, the apostles identified and retained their memory about Jesus only with the breaking of the Bread.