Homilies and Addresses 2007
Third Sunday of Easter

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
on Sunday, 22nd April, 2007 at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus, the Risen One, in today’s Gospel is standing on the side of the shore calling to his disciples.

We know that in his resurrection he has rescued us from sin and death and our response is that of the Psalm, “I will praise you Lord for you have rescued me.”

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we come to celebrate the Eucharist, one of a great multitude of people throughout the world, who proclaim Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  The Gospel story is one with which we are very familiar.  The apostles working all night and catching nothing and then the Lord appearing to them and at his word they lower their nets and a tremendous catch results.  When they came back to shore and had breakfast with him this showed the intimate relationship between the disciples and Jesus, between each one of us and he who is Lord of all.

The Gospel then goes on to the threefold invitation – Simon Peter do you love me, do you love me more than these, do you love me?  While this gave Peter a threefold opportunity to turn away from his denial of Jesus, it is an invitation to us to recognise the Lord working in our life and to turn back from our failure.  The reference in the Psalm, ‘Lord you have rescued me’, or in the Alleluia Verse, ‘Christ is the Lord of all creation.  He has shown pity on all people.’  This is a reminder that in the life of each of us, turning back to the Lord will always meet a merciful response.

The wonderful sacrament of reconciliation brings us forgiveness.  When we come to meet Christ as we do in the Eucharist we remember that the glory to which we are called and to which we hope is tempered by our human limitation and suffering.  The apostles were flogged and martyred because of their faith.  Often they met with hostility from the authorities, were tried and imprisoned.

The temptation of the world of today is to drive religion into the era of private conscience.  Peter showed grief and repentance.  As Saint Augustine says of sinners: “Many sins are committed by reason of pride, but not all proudly; some are committed from ignorance, others from weakness and many with sighs and tears.”  And yet in his threefold profession of faith Jesus received from Peter an acknowledgement that he, Jesus, was the rock upon which Peter’s life was founded and lived.

Recently on 13th March Pope Benedict issued an Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity.  He stressed that the Eucharist is the food of truth and by his command, “Do this in memory of me”, he asked us to respond to his gift in our life.  I urge you to read the Exhortation, which has been published by Saint Paul’s.  It is a wonderful unfolding of our understanding of the Eucharist and leads us to seek beauty and truth in its celebration, reverence and fervour in its reception, adoration of the Eucharist present in the church or exposed for veneration and then to see the Eucharist as true food, medicine and comfort when carried to the sick. 

The Pope reminds us that only Catholics can normally receive the Eucharist.  We have to be in a state of grace, where our life and Christ’s teaching correspond.  The welcoming of Christ in the Eucharist means the opening of our heart to our Lord and Saviour and the making of our whole life one with him.

We are to be instructed by God’s word, nourished at the table of the Lord’s body and giving thanks to God, offering the immaculate victim not only through the hands of the priest, but also together with him learn to make an offering of ourselves.  The Sacrament of Charity therefore means that the Eucharist is not merely to be received and pondered, but to carry over into our daily actions in union with Christ and the compassion that he showed.  “Christ is risen, the Lord of all creation; he has shown pity on all people.”  This is our goal, as today we listen to the story where Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to proclaim his faith and to announce it with joy.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.