Our Gospel stories during this joyful Easter season help us to understand the reality of the risen Christ in our lives. Last Sunday, we heard the story of Thomas the Apostle, of how Jesus approached Thomas in his doubts and unbelief, helping Thomas to believe and to grow in his faith. Just as Jesus searched out Thomas and never gave up on him, Jesus goes in search of the disciples in today's Gospel in the reality of their sorrows, fears, and uncertainty. In the first week of Easter, during one of the daily Gospel readings, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples wondered if they had seen a ghost. In today’s Gospel, Jesus helps the disciples understand the reality of his resurrection, that they are not hallucinating or seeing a ghost. Jesus performs a miracle for them at the Sea of Tiberius as they they are fishing, as the disciples fled Jerusalem for Galilees, returning to their old way of life as fishermen. After the miracle haul of fish they catch, Jesus shows them hospitality by preparing breakfast. A ghost or an apparition certainly wouldn’t cook them breakfast and then share a meal with them! We remember how in Christ’s passion, Peter denied Jesus three times. Today, as Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times, he affirms Peter, encouraging him to shepherd his flock. What an encouraging Gospel we hear today in the midst of our Easter journey.
As we recently celebrated the Year of St Joseph in our Catholic faith as declared by Pope Francis, today we celebrate the feast day of St Joseph the Worker. Back in Lent, we celebrated the feast day of St Joseph, the spouse of Mary, on March 19. Today’s feast in honor of St Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to foster deep devotion to St Joseph amongst the Catholic faithful, but also in response to the celebrations for workers on May 1 that were traditionally held in Europe when communist governments were in power. St Joseph is an example of the holiness of human labor in his work as a carpenter. Through his patience, perseverance, and industriousness, Joseph trained Jesus in his work as a carpenter and in the values of the Jewish faith. We Catholics are not only called to be capable, well-trained, industrious workers, but we are to bring the values of our faith to our workplace as well. We will pray a prayer in honor of St Joseph the worker at our Masses this weekend. Blessings to all of you on this third Sunday of the Easter season. Father Lincoln.
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