The mission for a new world
Gospel reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter
Although we are in 2019 and not at the end of the 1st or the beginning of the 2nd century, when the Gospel of John was set in writing, it is impossible not to read this story without seeing its resonance and relevance in light of our current situation.
It is a dense text that deals with the issues around the organization of the Church in its early stages, which recall the scandals that are currently jeopardizing the Church’s future.
This passage includes an appearance of Jesus raised from the dead, a Eucharistic meal, and the launching of a mission. Could it be read as a call for a new pastoral approach?
To start with, it is night. Peter, the first bishop, decides to go fishing, which could be read as a metaphor for pastoral work. He behaves as if he were the leader, but this is unfruitful.
The first teaching is that there is no route for the Church to advance in the world without returning to Jesus.
Then, it is morning, indicating that each new day is a new beginning in which Jesus invites his disciples to take a fresh direction. The world has changed, and shouldn’t the new wine – the good news – be carried in new wineskins?
Secondly, it is only after following the advice of the unknown person on the shores of the Sea of Galilee that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" recognizes Christ.
The second teaching is that despite being a leader of sorts, Peter still needs others. Here he needs the "disciple whom Jesus loved", to understand the events.
He has to truly see the events in an interpretative act that is essentially an act of faith and carried out in the presence of Christ resurrected.
The reader can surely feel between the words the underlying tension between Peter and the "disciple whom Jesus loved", as if there were a rivalry between the two roles or magisteriums that the two men embody.
Could it be read as a call to dialogue and greater harmony between the ministries of priests and the laity, for greater collegiality between the baptized, the people of God, a call to put the "common priesthood" (Vatican II) into practice?
Readers may notice that in contrast to the account of the arrival of Peter and the "disciple whom Jesus loved" at the tomb, Peter very clearly takes the initiative in this touching dialogue with Jesus: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Initiating different pastoral approaches
Thirdly, when the disciples are told to fish, they gather a great netful. One hundred and fifty-three big fish, according to the text.
The third teaching is directly to do with the universality of humankind, beyond differences of culture, sexuality, between men and women or divisions based on the color of skin.
The word of God is addressed to all men and women on earth, without exception.
A fourth element is that when Peter drags the fishing net to shore, it does not break. This gives rise to the fourth teaching.
Given the variety of possible situations and directions to be taken, we need to move forward in unison, which does not preclude initiating different pastoral approaches. It is Peter who instills and assures this unity.
Finally, the fifth element is the meal that the Messiah invites the disciples to share with him. The bread is the gift of Jesus’ body on the cross, it is the Word which sets us free.
Therefore, the fifth teaching, unless it is in fact the first, shows us that what allows us to recognize Jesus is his way of sharing among all. Hence the fire where the meal is cooked is not the fire of betrayal, but that of brotherhood.
In the Gospel of John, the Eucharistic meal embodies the notion of serving others, without exception. At this point, it is all or nothing.
At an individual level, psychological resistance to the image of the cross can only be intense: nothing is more psychically challenging than confronting the other, that which is different, that which could threaten one’s integrity.
Is it not here, at the threshold between "life" and "death", of existing as a person, between "Eros" and "Thanatos," at the verge of the true great challenge of life, that we begin to understand Christ’s call to be born again? He appeals to us to be resurrected in our full humanity, while welcoming the universal.
The admittance of the universal must be founded in the recognition of the otherness of the other, which is the beginning of the Church’s mission to build a new world. And towards this new world, because of our fear, and faced with the unknown, we might not want to go.
Daniel Duigou, a former television journalist, is a Catholic priest and psychoanalyst who ministers at a parish in central Paris.