My friends, we continue today and this week with our “alleluias” as we marvel at our loving God in Jesus, coming to be one-with-us, and to speak for justice for all people, especially the least among us.  His speaking out we know was often against the civil authorities of his time – not a good thing to do if one values their physical life.  Our brother Jesus, in order to be true to himself and the God who sent him, had to challenge the powers of his time to do the right, just thing and we know he paid the price for his actions.  This is the message that his first disciples preached after his Resurrection. 

   Jesus, in today’s gospel from John appears to the apostles to fine-tune this message. We find these now, “fishers of people” reverting to what they know best, and is probably most comforting – fishing for physical food, which in reality is needed to keep them alive. 

   Into this reality, Jesus, knowing the human condition, comes once again to guide and support them.  We see Jesus’ tender, yet courageous approach with Peter to help him know that even though he denied Jesus during his passion, he is still loved.  Additionally, he makes clear the fact that as his followers, we can’t just “talk” about who Jesus was, but must “act” too.  If we say we “love” Jesus, then we must “tend the lambs – feed the sheep.” 

   Needless to say, perhaps, but necessary probably too, is the fact that the “lambs and sheep” are those in our midst who are needy in many ways, the poor, the homeless, the abused, and so on.  We see many actions these days coming from the powers-that-be, and even curiously, from those claiming to be “Christian,” that are far from what can be said to be, “caring for the least among us.” 

   I think it is significant that Jesus seems aware of how it can be difficult to do the right thing in the face of little support, and so he comes into their midst, to this chosen fragile group to uplift and support, letting them know that “he will always be with them,” and especially when the going gets tough. 

   We can only imagine that for Peter, whom Jesus has asked much of – to lead this rag-tag group of men, the fact that when the going did get tough, Peter denied even knowing Jesus, not once, but three times, had to have been hard for Peter to get over. 

   Jesus lets Peter and us know, in a gentle way, that he realizes that we love him and that we will, with his help, do the right thing.  I think we would all agree that our basic humanity, at times, gets in the way of the good that we would do. 

   Each Wednesday I pick up our grandson, Elliot after school, and then we have a few hours with him, which includes a snack, doing some reading, his homework, and some games, before having supper—he calls it “dinner,” either at our house, with his parents, or at theirs. 

   During his homework this past week, he wanted to know my answer to the question, “Is deciding whether an action is right or wrong always easy?”  to which I answered, “No, it is not.”  In fact, I am presently working on such a dilemma, but that is another homily.

   But the above question attempts to get children thinking beyond “black and white answers to the often-complex situations we find in our world.  As you know, many questions/situations fall into “gray” areas that aren’t always adequately, or justly answered in a black and white way. 

   The first reading today from Acts finds the apostles at odds with the high priest who wants them not to preach about Jesus, speaks well to this question of right versus wrong, “Better for us to obey God than people.”  This answer from some of Jesus’ 1^st followers answers “why” nearly 300 women in this country and around the world have followed their God-given calls to priestly ordination in a Church that claims that these ordinations are “invalid.”  In our nearly 17 years serving this community as a Vatican II parish, I humbly think that we have called that bluff. 

   Perhaps a quote that speaks well to what Jesus is doing today with Peter and ultimately, with us, as we try to be true to his words and actions, comes from an unnamed philanthropist, “We don’t try to make things easy for people, but to make things possible.”  I believe additionally, this helps those of us “doers” to keep the balance we need in life in order that we not only care for others, but ourselves as well. 

   My friends, as we try to be our best selves in a world so filled with need, let us remember the balance our brother Jesus shows us today in his ministry to Peter.  And with John in the 2^nd reading from Revelations, we can pray, “Be praise and honor, glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen? Amen!  Alleluia!