03 May 2025 – 3rd Sunday of Easter (Year C) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Fabian Dicom

My dear brothers and sisters, today’s Readings bring us face to face with one of the most liberating truths of Easter – that the Risen Jesus does not abandon us in our failures. He meets us where we are – on the shores of our disappointments, in our shame and even in our hiding. And He transforms us not by condemning us but by calling us again and again and again to follow Him.

So let us begin with Peter.

In the Gospel, Peter returns to fishing. After the trauma of the crucifixion and the threefold denial of Jesus, he goes back to what he knows, perhaps thinking that it is all over.

“I am going fishing.” he says.

It is a sign of regression. Haven’t we all done that? Gone back to what is safe when we feel we have failed?

But Jesus does not leave Peter alone. He does not leave Peter in that space. The Risen Lord appears not with a lecture but with breakfast, with tenderness. What tenderness is this. What mercy.

The charcoal fire must have reminded Peter of another charcoal fire, the one where he denied Jesus. But this time, the fire becomes the place of healing. The shame of failure is met with the warmth of love. The moments revealed the entire ark of Peter’s journey, calling, falling and recalling.

Calling. Falling and Recalling.

He was called on the shores of Galilee to be a fisher of people. And he fell in the courtyard when fear overcame his love. And now on another shore, the Risen Jesus calls him literally and spiritually to love and calls him to mission.

And here is where the Gospel’s Greek wording (the original text of the Gospel was written in Greek), the Greek wording gives us a deeply moving inside and you have probably heard this explanation. Allow me to say this again.

When Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” the first two times, the Greek translation of that word ‘love’ is ‘Agape‘. The highest self-giving love. So basically, Jesus is saying (my tenses may be wrong), “Do you ‘agape‘ me?” the first two times.

But Peter answers. In English it is all love, love, love but in Greek, he answers with the word ‘Philia‘ which is more a human brotherly kind of love. It is as if he is saying, “Lord, I love you but I am not sure I am capable of that perfect love anymore.” So ‘Philia‘.

And then the third time, Jesus shifts. “Do you ‘Philia‘ me. Jesus comes down, meeting Peter at his level. He comes down to Peter’s wounded heart and says, “Even there, I trust you. Even that love you have is enough.“

What a moment of divine compassion!

Jesus does not wait until Peter can love perfectly. He takes what Peter can give and still entrusts him with the care of His flock, “Feed my sheep.“

This is deeply consoling. Many of us carry the weight of not being good enough for God, not holy enough, not strong enough, not faithful enough. But Easter tells us that the Risen Jesus takes even our imperfect love, our hesitant ‘Yes‘ and builds something beautiful with it.

And just like Peter, we are not defined by our failure. We are defined by the One who recalls us in love.

We see the fruit of that recalling in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter who once denied Jesus to a servant girl now stands before the religious authorities and boldly proclaims the Gospel. He and the other apostles rejoice in being found worthy to suffer in the name of Jesus. Imagine that.

Fear has been replaced by courage.
Guilt has been replaced by grace.

Now in our Malaysian context and even in the church where speaking up for truth and justice can carry consequences. We need to remember this. 

‘Resurrection faith‘ is not ‘Comfortable faith‘. It is not ‘Praise the Lord faith’. It is a call to prophetic courage and we are all called to do that. Prophetic courage like Peter, like the apostles, like the early martyrs, like those who speak for the poor, those who speak for the migrants, those who speak for the earth today.

We will be misunderstood, even punished but we too can rejoice because we are walking the way of Christ. We have been gifted by the Holy Spirit.

But allow me to move slightly away from this but to explain this as well. Let me say this plainly and pastorally and because I care for this community.

Now not everything that feels bold and critical is truly prophetic. Remember that. We must be very, very careful, especially some of us in this parish not to mistake corridor talk, gossip or complains rooted in ego, rooted in moral superiority, rooted in self-righteousness and judgment or even a feeling.

I hear quite a lot of this feeling, “I feel“. Check – Is this feeling stemming from just our hang-ups, our insecurity, our jealousy even? All these camouflage as speaking the truth. This is not prophesy. That is pride masquerading as holiness. This is not the Spirit of Christ. This is the spirit of division. This hurts and it destroys people.

True prophetic courage is borne of humility, it is borne of prayer, it is borne of a discernment and love. It speaks truth not to wound or elevate oneself but to build up the body of Christ even when it costs.

Just because we go for Mass every day, or we belong to a prayer group or even go for all the devotions all over the place does not put us on a pedestal. And it does not allow us to spew venom.

So before we claim to be prophetic, before we claim to be righteous, let us ask where does this come from.
Does this come from love?
Does it serve communion?
Does it carry the cross?

Now back to authentic prophetic courage which I believe we all have. And we have because we have been gifted by the Holy Spirit.

The vision of the revelation from the Second Reading from the Book of Apocalypse anchors this courage, the prophetic courage in Hope.

Why?

Because there we see the Lamb who was slain is now glorified. Every creature in heaven and on earth sings praise. The Lamb’s suffering was not defeat, it was the path to ultimate victory. And so will ours be if we follow Jesus Christ.

So what does that mean for us? Allow me to just suggest five points.

#1 God’s calling is not a one-time event. Like Peter, we are called again and again, especially after we fall. Our journey is not a straight line but Jesus never stops recalling us.

#2 God meets us where we are. Even if your love is hesitant, your love is wounded and imperfect, Jesus takes them. He gently invites us to grow but never rejects what little we can give.

#3 We are entrusted with the mission, even in our brokenness. All of us. Peter is given the care of the flock. Not after he proves himself. No! But while he is still healing. That is grace. That is our hope.

#4 Resurrection demands courage. Like the apostles, we too must speak up for truth, for justice and love. No compromise. Even when it is inconvenient or risky, especially when the voices of the vulnerable are silenced.

#5 God always sees the end of our story very clearly. Peter who once fell later gave his life in love. He grew into the very ‘agape‘ he once could not claim. So too God sees in us the possibility, the potential of transformation even when we cannot see it ourselves.

So today my dear brothers and sisters, let us hear the Risen Jesus asking us again “Do you love me?” Not “Are you perfect?”, not “Have you ever failed?” but simply “Do you love me?“

Even if we can only say ‘Yes, Lord, I love you as best as I can“, He response. And let us not forget that response to all of us.

“Feed my sheep.”

“Feed my sheep. Follow me.“

And when we do, even in our imperfection, we too will find our lives transformed into a love that becomes courageous, a courage that will one day become that complete love.

Amen.

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