Reflection for Sunday – May 4, 2025

April 30, 2025Sue HowardSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Acts 5: 27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5: 11-14; John 21: 1-19
Preacher: Susan Howard

My siblings and I grew up fishing with my grandfather on Black Lake, back when the fish were plentiful, before acid rain ruined the lake.

We would awake at dawn, sleepily donning our musty life vests, clumsily climbing into the small motorboat, the smell of worms and lake and gasoline fumes from the Evinrude. And we would catch loads of little panfish, sometimes a bass, it was all very exciting.

Grandpa would clean them all, and Grandma would cook them up for breakfast. Nothing ever tasted so good! One time I took some friends up there and I tried to remember where all the good fishing holes were, but we caught nada—very embarrassing. In desperation, I cast out from the dock and let the pole sit until after dinner, lo and behold—a beautiful northern pike was waiting for me….thank you Jesus!

I recall this story because I see why the apostles returned to the water. For some people, water can be like a magnet; the magnitude of the depths, the open skies, and the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, all have a calming, cleansing, and centering effect. After what the apostles had been through, it makes perfect sense. I don’t think they were running away, they were lost; they needed to collect themselves, to grapple with the task ahead. What better way than to go to sea with your brothers, working by the sweat of your brows to throw the weighty nets, patiently waiting for the catch, hauling in the empty nets, sharing in the disappointment. All night…in the dark, just the moonlight and the stars…lost in their thoughts, empty-handed.

“ It is the Lord!” Peter shouts after they miraculously catch a boatload of fish at the stranger’s suggestion. And here is where the lesson begins.

Jesus, the name above all names. At His Word, miracles happen. At His Word, people are fed. At His Word, love is born anew. At His Word, he shares his very life with the world. However, we must go to Him empty-handed.

In the first reading, we watch as the apostles stand powerless in front of the Sanhedrin and publicly confess that they will serve God before man. In speaking “truth to power,” they begin to realize that strength comes not from seats of power and prestige, or from mighty armies, but through faith. They find a strength borne from righteousness and confirmed by the Holy Spirit; they are empowered to speak boldly the name and teachings of Jesus.

And why do you suppose the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the Jewish community, dismissed them so readily? It was The Name of Jesus! They backed down, they were made silent.

In the Book of Revelation, John writes from his exile on the island of Patmos. Apocalyptic writing such as this is often written to encourage believers to stand firm in their faith in the face of resistance, in times of crisis, or in the face of adversity. This is the fate of John; separated from all forms of community worship and even the basic necessities of life, in other words, empty-handed…he is granted the spiritual gifts of dreams and visions. He describes in extravagant symbolism the vision of the risen Christ, seated on a throne, being worshipped by all the living creatures, the whole universe crying out with one voice to give glory to God.

This symbolism has been compared to what occurs during the consecration of the Host and sharing in Holy Communion at our Sunday Mass. We gather with all the saints and angels as we partake of the heavenly food, Christ’s body, that brings into reality the power of heaven here on earth. The words of our Communion Hymn say it this way, “Christ has died and death is dead! Earth and heaven boldly wed! Joyous cup and hearty bread! Alleluia!”

And in Jesus, at the Name of Jesus, we are filled with His presence. We are healed from our sorrows and failures, as the fishermen were; we are given bread from heaven, as the fishermen were; we are filled with love; as the fishermen were…so that we could do as the fishermen did, even though we go empty-handed, and only if we go empty-handed can we go out and do the same… in the Name of Jesus.

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Sue Howard

Born and raised in Rochester N.Y., Sue Howard received an Associates degree in art with a pottery major. She later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at RIT. She worked with the elderly for over 26 years, first as a therapeutic recreation specialist at the Shire at Culverton and Monroe Community Hospital, then as Director of Recreation at Wesley Gardens and finally as Director of Volunteers and Spiritual Services, also at Wesley.

During that time she and her husband raised two children and she went to St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry and earned her Masters of Divinity degree in May of 2003. She worked at St. Andrew, Annunciation, Blessed Sacrament, St. Boniface and St. Mary's Churches.Retired in 2020