REGINA
CÆLI POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Third Sunday of Easter, 10 April 2016
Third Sunday of Easter, 10 April 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today’s Gospel recounts the third apparition of
the Risen Jesus to the disciples, with the account of the miraculous catch on
the shore of the lake of Galilee (cf. Jn 21:1-19). The narrative is situated in
the context of the everyday life of the disciples, who returned to their land
and to their work as fishermen, after the shocking days of the passion, death
and resurrection of the Lord. It was difficult for them to understand what had
taken place. Even though everything seemed finished, Jesus “seeks” his
disciples once more. It is He who goes to seek them. This time he meets them at
the lake, where they have spent the night in their boats catching nothing. The
nets appear empty, in a certain sense, like the tally of their experience with
Jesus: they met him, they left everything to follow him, full of hope... and
now? Yes, they saw he was risen, but then they were thought: “He went away and
left us.... It was like a dream...”.
So it is that at sunrise Jesus presents himself
on the lakeshore; however they do not recognize him (cf. v. 4). The Lord says
to those tired and disappointed fishermen: “Cast the net on the right side of
the boat, and you will find some” (v. 6). The disciples trust in Jesus and the
result is an incredibly abundant catch. At this point John turns to Peter and
says: “It is the Lord!” (v. 7). Right away Peter throws himself into the water
and swims to the shore, toward Jesus. In that exclamation: “It is the Lord!”,
there is all the enthusiasm of the Paschal faith, full of joy and wonder, which
sharply contrasts with the disappearance, the dejection, the sense of
powerlessness that had accumulated in the disciples’ hearts. The presence of
the Risen Jesus transforms everything: darkness has become light, futile work
has again become fruitful and promising, the sense of weariness and abandonment
give way to a new impetus and to the certainty that He is with us.
From that time, these same sentiments enliven
the Church, the Community of the Risen One. All of us are the community of the
Risen One! At first glance it might sometimes seem that the darkness of evil
and the toil of daily living have got the upper hand, the Church knows with certainty
that the now everlasting light of Easter shines upon those who follow the Lord
Jesus. The great message of the Resurrection instills in the hearts of
believers profound joy and invincible hope. Christ is truly risen! Today too,
the Church continues to make this joyous message resound: joy and hope continue
to flow in hearts, in faces, in gestures, in words. We Christians are all
called to communicate this message of resurrection to those we meet, especially
to those who suffer, to those who are alone, to those who find themselves in
precarious conditions, to the sick, to refugees, to the marginalized. Let us
make a ray of the light of the Risen Christ, a sign of his powerful mercy,
reach everyone.
May he, the Lord, also renew in us the Paschal
faith. May he render us ever more aware of our mission at the service of the
Gospel and of our brothers and sisters; may he fill us with his Holy Spirit so
that, sustained by the intercession of Mary, with all the Church we may
proclaim the greatness of his love and the abundance of his mercy.
After the Regina Caeli:
Dear brothers and sisters, in the hope given to
us by the Risen Christ, I renew my appeal for the liberation of all people who
have been seized in areas of armed conflict; in particular I would like to
remember the Salesian priest Tom Uzhunnalil, abducted in Aden, Yemen on 4
March.
I greet you all, people of Rome and pilgrims
from Italy and from various parts of the world.
I thank the parish choirs for their presence;
some of them have lent their service in recent days in St Peter’s Basilica.
Thank you very much! I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please do not forget to
pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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