2 April 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”” John 21:7
Peter and John are still speaking to the people in the Temple when the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees arrive, “much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.” The Sadducees did not believe in any resurrection at all, and here were two Galileans announcing that it had already begun in Jesus. The Apostles spend the night in custody. Yet Luke slips in a quiet line of victory: “many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.” The word of God is not locked up with its preachers. The next morning the Temple leaders gather, Annas and Caiaphas among them, the same men before whom Jesus stood a few weeks earlier. Their question is the right one, though they ask it in the wrong spirit: “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” answers. This is the man who, on the night of the Passion, could not admit to a servant girl that he knew Jesus. Now he stands before the high priest and says: “this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” The Psalm of the day sings the same verse that Peter quotes: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” The Church has always held this truth firmly: Jesus Christ is the one Saviour of the whole world. The Second Vatican Council adds that God's grace, which always comes through Christ, can reach in ways known to God those who through no fault of their own do not yet know him (Lumen Gentium 16). That is not a reason to be silent; it is a reason to speak his name with love, as Peter did.
The Gospel takes us back to Galilee, to the Sea of Tiberias. Seven disciples are together, and Simon Peter says simply, “I am going fishing.” They go with him, “but that night they caught nothing.” A long, empty night of work: many fishermen, many parents, many young people looking for a job know that night. “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.” He calls to them as a father calls his children: “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answer, “No.” He tells them to cast the net to the right side of the boat, and now they cannot haul it in for the number of fish. The beloved disciple sees with the eyes of love before anyone else: “It is the Lord!” Peter, impulsive as ever, puts on his clothes and jumps into the sea to reach him first.
On the shore a charcoal fire is already burning, with fish on it, and bread. The only other charcoal fire in John's Gospel is the one in the high priest's courtyard where Peter warmed himself and denied his Master (John 18:18). Now the Lord lights a new fire, of welcome. He asks for some of the fish they have caught, and Peter hauls the net ashore, “full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.” Then come the gentlest words: “Come and have breakfast.” None of them dares ask, “Who are you?” They know. “Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.” The Fathers saw here a picture of the Church: the boat of Peter, the net that gathers every kind of people and does not tear, and the Lord who feeds his tired disciples with bread from his own hands. Without him the night is empty; with him the net is full, and breakfast is ready on the shore.
Theme: “It is the Lord!”
The name above every name, love that recognizes the Lord, and the breakfast he prepares on the shore.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Apply: Begin and end your work today with the sign of the cross, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
“I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them;” Jeremiah 16:16
“That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”” John 21:7
Apply: Look back on today before sleeping and name one moment when the Lord was with you without your noticing.
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” Isaiah 25:6
“Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.” John 21:13
Apply: Come to Mass this Sunday a little early, and spend those minutes thanking the Lord for the meal he prepares.
Jesus is the one Saviour, and his name gives courage to the weakest disciple.
He meets us after our empty nights, fills our nets and feeds us from his own hands.
Take-home resolution: Whenever something good happens this week, say in your heart: “It is the Lord!”
Dear brothers and sisters, the leaders of the Temple ask Peter and John a question: by what power or by what name did you do this? (Acts 4:7). It is a good question for every Christian. When people see us forgive, serve or hope, they should be able to ask: in whose name do you do this?
Peter answers with the courage of the Holy Spirit: by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. A few weeks before, he was afraid of a servant girl. Now he is not afraid of the high priest. The Resurrection and the Spirit have changed him.
And Peter says: there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is not one teacher among many. He is the Saviour. That is why we pray in his name, are baptized in his name and live in his name.
In the Gospel the disciples have fished all night and caught nothing. Many of us know nights like that: work without fruit, prayers that seem unanswered, efforts that fail. At daybreak Jesus stands on the shore and calls: children, you have no fish, have you? He knows our empty nets.
He tells them to cast the net again, on the right side. They obey, and the net is full. The beloved disciple cries out: it is the Lord! (John 21:7). Love recognizes him first. When we obey his word, even in small things, we begin to see that he was with us all along.
On the shore the Lord has already prepared a fire and breakfast. He says: come and have breakfast. And he takes the bread and gives it to them. This is what he does at every Mass. Today, on this First Friday, let us come to him tired as we are, and let him feed us. Alleluia. Amen.
Children, the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus told them to try again, and the net was full of fish! John shouted: it is the Lord!
Then Jesus made breakfast for his friends. Jesus takes care of us too. Let us say: thank you, Jesus, for loving us!
Almighty ever-living God, who gave us the Paschal Mystery in the covenant you established for reconciling the human race, so dispose our minds, we pray, that what we celebrate by professing the faith we may express in deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. Let us also pray: Lord Jesus, you stood on the shore at daybreak while your friends toiled in vain. Call to us in our empty nights, teach us to cast our nets at your word, and feed us at your fire with the bread of your own hands, so that with the beloved disciple we may say: It is the Lord! Alleluia. Amen.