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Master·evangeli.net

Today's Gospel + short theological explanation

Third Sunday of Easter
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Gospel text (Jn 21:1-19): At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (…). When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” (…). When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread (…). Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord (…).

Resurrection appearances of Jesus to the Apostles

EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

Today, our attention is attracted by the disciples who, at first, do not recognize Jesus. Only after the Lord told them to cast their net in another direction, the disciple whom Jesus loved recognized Him. It is, so to speak, recognition from deep inside that, yet, is always shrouded in mystery.

After fishing, when Jesus invites them to eat, there was still a feeling of something strange ("none of the disciples dared to ask Him who He was, though they did know He was the Lord"). His materialization is consistent with the dialectic of "recognizing" and "not recognizing": He is fully corporeal, and yet, He is not subject to the laws of corporeity, the laws of space and time. In this striking dialectic, between true corporeity and freedom from the bondage of the body, the peculiar, mysterious, essence of the new existence of the risen Christ is manifested.

—Jesus is the same - had the flesh and bone of a man - and He is also the "New One", who has entered into a different genus of existence.