by Fr. Tommy Lane
Last Sunday we heard how Jesus came to Thomas to heal his doubts about Jesus’ resurrection; Jesus invited Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe” and Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:27-28) In today’s Gospel, once again Jesus comes to restore and heal; this time he restores Peter. In the high priest’s house, while Jesus was being questioned, Peter denied Jesus three times by a charcoal fire (John 18:12-26) and a cock crowed. In today’s Gospel, three times by a charcoal fire, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him and gives him his mission (John 21:1-19).
Jesus appeared to the apostles a number of times after his resurrection. Luke, and also Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, tell us that before appearing to the apostles together, Jesus appeared firstly to Peter on his own (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5). We do not know anything about it; we have just a simple statement in Luke telling us it took place on Easter Sunday and a simple declaration also in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. We can imagine that Jesus brought huge healing to Peter during that private apparition. It was surely the beginning of the undoing and healing and forgiveness of Peter’s three denials of Jesus by the charcoal fire in the high priest’s house. In today’s Gospel, in the presence of the apostles by the sea of Galilee, three times by a charcoal fire Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. This was the deepening of the undoing and healing and forgiveness of Peter’s three denials of Jesus. The three denials are now erased and replaced with Peter’s three promises of love.
Peter had to forgive himself. We can guess that Peter struggled a great deal with forgiving himself. After the cock crowed when Peter realized what he had done, he wept. This was his remorse. For some, forgiving themselves is challenging. It is good to remember that when we repent, God can turn evil to good. Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” (NABRE) which means that even a failure or sin of some kind can be turned to good for those who love God. Paul would know. Before his conversion, he stood by as the first martyr, Stephen, was being stoned to death (Acts 7:58-8:1; 22:20). Before his conversion, we could describe Paul as a terrorist but after his conversion he worked tirelessly for Christ’s Church. Another example of evil being turned to good is in the life of the patriarch Joseph, in the Old Testament, who was sold by his brothers to passing traders going down to Egypt. Joseph helped Egypt prepare for a famine and when his brothers came down to Egypt for food to take back home, he said to them, “Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many people.” (Gen 50:20; see also 45:7-8) Evil was turned to good. Those struggling to forgive themselves need to reflect deeply on Jesus’ forgiveness. Jesus’ forgiveness is like a bottomless well; there is no end to it. That surely is one way of understanding Divine Mercy last Sunday. When Jesus has forgiven you in Confession, why would you persist in condemning yourself? Let evil to be turned to good. Allow all things to work for good because of your love of God.
We can imagine that Peter was a much stronger person after having failed Jesus, repented, and being restored again by Jesus. We see that strength in Peter in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles when Peter and the other apostles were forbidden by the Sanhedrin to preach about Jesus, but they responded, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) What a complete change in Peter: going from denying Jesus to saying, “We must obey God rather than men.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter,
when you were younger,
you used to dress
yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will
dress you
and lead you where you
do not want to go.
John then tells us these words of Jesus were about Peter’s future martyrdom for preaching about Jesus. In the future, in Rome, Peter would be crucified during the persecutions of Christians by the emperor Nero. There again we see the change in Peter from denying Jesus to giving his life for Jesus. As you look at St. Peter’s Basilica, to the left there is an arch where two Swiss Guards are on duty and behind that arch is where Peter was crucified upside down because he remained faithful to Jesus. He went from denying Jesus to giving his life for Jesus because he obeyed God rather than men. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Three times he affirmed that he did. He showed this love for Jesus for the rest of his life, even to being crucified for Jesus in Rome. He let evil to be turned to good and allowed all things work for good because of his love for God.
Jesus came to Thomas to heal his doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus restored Peter after his three denials. Those struggling to forgive themselves need to reflect deeply on Jesus’ forgiveness which is like a bottomless well—there is no end to it. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him as he restored him. I think we could hear Jesus asking each of us three times if we love him. Since Jesus has forgiven you in Confession, why would you persist in condemning yourself? Let evil to be turned to good and allow all things to work for good because of your love of God so that you may be free from condemnation and enjoy the peace of Jesus.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday of Easter Year C
Jesus forgives Peter and restores him
Related Homilies: Transformed by meeting Jesus 2013
Joy of the Gospel 2021
Begin again 2022
Second Reading Related Revelation/Apocalypse (Saints in Heaven)
stories about God’s Mercy
stories about conversion