Third Sunday of Easter May 1, 2022
As St. John closes his gospel in chapter 21, he records how Jesus had appeared to His disciples for the third time. This time, while fishing, the Savior repeated an earlier miracle so they might recognize that He, who had risen, was the same Lord Jesus who had died for all and called them to “fish for men.” Prior to this renewed commissioning, John shared how Jesus indicated that the essence of this divine mission—as we heard last Sunday—is to proclaim law and gospel: “’Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.’ After saying this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven’” (20:21-23).
Therefore, we can conclude this important truth. The essence of our Christian life revolves around proclaiming Jesus as “the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). Jesus keeps us on this earth—instead of instantly taking us to heaven once “Christianized”—so we can “go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you” (Matthew 28:19)—that is our mission!