13 April 1986
Milan, Italy

My dear Friends in Jesus Christ,

There is a marvelous freshness about the passage from St. John's Gospel to which we have just listened. To begin with, the whole event occurs in springtime, for Our Lord's Resurrection took place when spring was breaking in Palestine. Second, it is the dawn of a new day. St. John makes the point that they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. It is easy for us to imagine the beauty of that lake on a spring morning. Then there is the fire, the warmth of the fire which Our Lord seems to have lit Himself. "When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish lying on it and bread." (Jn 21:9). There is the freshness, too, of a picnic with Jesus Christ as host. "Come and eat your meal." (Ibid., v. 12).

Notwithstanding the freshness of the scene and the warmth and tenderness of Christ, the disciples had a little difficulty in recognizing Jesus Christ, and even when they did, they seem to have had a certain reluctance to address Him as they did before His death and resurrection. "None of the disciples dared ask Him, `Who are You?'" (Ibid.). It is a remarkable fact that in all the appearances of Our Lord after His resurrection, His disciples and friends had a certain difficulty in recognizing Him. Yet that difficulty did not conflict with the assurance which eventually dawned upon them all, that Jesus Christ had indeed truly risen from the dead. That should be a source of encouragement to us. We, too, have the joy of living our lives after the Resurrection of Our Lord. We do not see Him with our physical eyes and He Himself has said: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (Jn 20:29). We should not allow ourselves to be discouraged by the fact that we must now, as St. Paul remarks, "see Him now dimly and in a dark manner." (1 Cor 13:12). With those first disciples of Our Lord, we share the difficulty of seeing Him clearly in the ordinary events of our lives.

Speaking of the ordinary events of our lives, I never read this Gospel passage without thinking of a celebrated spiritual writer called Dom Marmion. Some of you may have read some of his books years ago before the second Vatican Council. This Benedictine Monk went to Rome on one occasion and had an audience with St. Pius X. At the end of the audience, Dom Marmion offered the Pope a little holy card and asked the Pope to write a sentence on it. St. Plus X took his pen and wrote: "In all circumstances of your life say: `It is the Lord.'" That phrase, "It is the Lord," (Jn 21:7) is found in today's Gospel. St. Pius X's application of it is very profound and, I might add, very Vincentian. St. Vincent was deeply devoted to the Providence of God. He recommends us to accept all things: "when something unexpected happens to us in body or mind, good or bad, we are to accept it without fuss as from God's loving hand;" (CR II, 3). If we could live that ideal of St. Vincent, we would have great peace in our lives. "In all circumstances, say: `It is the Lord.'" (Jn 21:7).

There is something delightfully human about the incident recorded in the end of St. John's Gospel. Our Lord had just given to St. Peter a little glimpse of the future that awaited him. In veiled terms Jesus had indicated to Peter that his death would be that of a martyr. Possibly the fact that Jesus had foretold the future to Peter caused him some excitement. In his impetuosity--and how much impetuosity there was in the character of Peter--he asks Jesus to do a favor for his friend, John, by telling him about his future. "Jesus said to him, `If it is My Will that he remain until I come, what is that to you. Follow Me.'" (Jn 21:22).

St. Peter's curiosity about John's future is very understandable. After all, John was a very good friend of Peter. For all that, Our Lord emphasizes for St. Peter the importance of keeping his eyes on Jesus Christ and not allowing himself to be too distracted by what happens to other people. Certainly it is important that we have and show interest in the spiritual and temporal welfare of others, particularly of our friends and of the poor. However, our interest in others must always be subordinated to the doing of God's Will in our own lives. Our interest and concern for others must grow out of our personal interest and love for Jesus Christ. When St. Paul wrote his letters to the early Christians, he was very fond of using the phrase, "in Christ Jesus", over and over again. In the letters of St. Paul you will find that phrase used by him more than two hundred times. It is important for us in our concern and work for others to see them in Christ Jesus. We must try to do for them what we think Christ Jesus would like us to do for them. Our friendships with others must always be referred back to Christ Jesus. If we do not make Christ Jesus the reference point for all that we do for others, self interest or merely human satisfaction will enter into our relationships with others and we will not be instruments of that peace and joy which Christ would like to give them through us.