Homily of H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti of April 22, 2007

3rd Easter Sunday (YEAR C)
1st reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40-41; Psalm 29; 2nd reading: Rev 5:11-14; Gospel: Jn 21:1-19

At that time Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. ”When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (Jn 21:1-19).

Today's passage from the Gospel, in its integral form, contains, for me, what is extremely important to highlight and on which I want to invite you to reflect, that is, the institution of the primacy of Peter.

The Lord accomplished his mission, died, reopened the gates of Heaven, gave his Word to the world, instituted the sacraments and finally instituted Peter, head of the apostolic college, and his successors, heads of the episcopal college. Wherever it remained, accepted and believed, this gift that Christ gave to the Church guaranteed the unity of the Church. To make you understand this, it is sufficient to invite you to turn your gaze towards our Christian brothers, Orthodox and Protestants, among whom there are swirling divisions, groups that break away from other groups, there is no unity as in the Catholic Church. The Orthodox, partly, have been saved and their divisions are less frequent than those of the Protestants, because they have kept all the sacraments and among these, in a particular way, the Eucharist which guarantees unity, if the patrimony of faith that Christ has left us is accepted.

In the Church the figure of the Pope is an emerging and irreplaceable figure. This is why I also wanted to read to you the passage on the establishment of this primacy. It is a moving passage, because it is the continuation of a discourse that had begun some time before, between Jesus and Peter, when Jesus asked the apostles who he was for them and what others said who he was, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied: "You are the Christ, the Son of God". Jesus resumed: "Blessed are you, because it was not flesh and blood who revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven". It is God who chooses and arouses, but only if man allows it.

The Pope is the head of the Church. Many definitions have been given of the various popes who have followed one another, which for me are reductive. It means nothing to say the theologian Pope, the philosopher Pope, the patron Pope, the conservative Pope, the progressive or modern Pope, they are all definitions that absolutely do not highlight the gift that Christ has given to the Church.

There is an exhortation, an imperative of Christ addressed to Peter, it is the last word of the passage of the Gospel we just read: “Follow me”, that is to say, between the Pope and Christ there must be unity, whereby Christ is in the Pope and the Pope is in Christ. We must say that the Pope must speak with the mouth of Christ, he must tell the truth, teach the truth, spread the Word. The Pope must listen with the ears of Christ, even to the lament of a little brother or one of his little faithful who suffers from the injustice of his brothers. The Pope must see with the eyes of Christ, therefore, he must not allow himself to be influenced by the mental, social or cultural categories present in a society, he must look with the same eye of love at the poor widow who has placed a penny in the treasury of the temple and at the great powerful bishop who comes to him in private audience, with the pompousness of his office. The Pope must think with the head of Christ, it is Paul who says it to all the faithful: "Have in you the same thoughts as Christ". If this is true for the faithful, all the more so for the leader of the faithful. Above all, the Pope must love with the heart of Christ, because if this love is not present, his action is sterile and ineffective. It is the love of God that transforms the world, it is a dynamic force that carries the Church forward until it reaches, time after time, higher and more surprising heights of holiness. This must be the Pope.

We have had many popes, something like more than three hundred, but not all of them have reflected the image of Christ and, therefore, we must also correct another opinion which is still almost imposed: the Pope is chosen by God, by the Holy Spirit. This is true only if those who elect him are also filled with the Holy Spirit and God's grace. How can we say that God is pleased with popes who covered themselves before Him with terrible crimes and enormous sins? Out of respect for their memory, I won't mention any names, but if you are interested, you can go and find them and you will discover, to your surprise and, in part, with scandal, many who actually were not worthy of being at that height and to have received the mandate. They are legitimate, no one doubts it, but they were not pleasing to God, having simply been elected by men often with negative and sinful human means, through negotiations, agreements sand bought votes. They are legitimate popes, but certainly God did not want them on the throne of Peter and this regards the history of the Church in its entirety. Out of twenty centuries of Church history, excluding the first centuries, when those popes were all martyrs and therefore witnesses of faith regarding Christ, the following centuries have seen both great and holy popes but also mediocre and sinner popes. And so "Follow me" Christ can only say to those who love him, to those who are faithful to him, to those who are ready to give their lives for him, even to the detriment of their health and even putting their lives in serious danger. These are the popes who have heard, respected and fulfilled Christ's invitation to follow him and who have truly become fishers of men.

I ask you, almost begging you, to pray that in centuries to come, starting with the next Pope, the Church may have a Pope who is truly full of God, who sees with the eyes of Christ, who hears with the ear of Christ, who speaks with the mouth of Christ, who think with the head of Christ and who loves with the heart of Christ. I ask you exactly this, we have a future ahead and we can write it as a bright or dark future, God is working to write it bright and, for this reason, is asking souls for an immolation that seems to never end and increases day by day, in an impressive and surprising vortex. We love the Church because we have prayed for her, we have suffered and we have given everything we could, even our lives. We, as a community, love it, we are a living cell within the Church and our mission is to slowly heal the other cells of the Mystical Body of Christ, so that, eventually, it can shine with such light, strength and vitality that every man faced with this display can raise his gaze to God and thank him for this great masterpiece.

Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is also Mother of the Church and on December 8 last, I entrusted the whole Church to Mary. It was a gesture that I had to do and I did, it was a gesture that God wanted done and it was done. God appreciated the entrustment of the whole Church to her, mother of the Head of the Church that will be reborn and will rise again and will truly be as God wants. It will be that bright beacon capable of sending beams of light into a world which, unfortunately, is heading faster and faster towards its own self-destruction, because the men who govern it, and I do not exclude the men of the Church, instead of loving others and God, they love themselves; instead of thinking of others they think of their interests, instead of giving to others they keep for themselves and for the restricted circle of their supporters. This will have to end and finally I hope that all of us, that all of you present here can once again see God at the center of the Church, at the head of the Church, the father of all men and go towards Him, as John XXIII sometimes said, singing and hoping. We must never kill hope, but we must keep it, because having hope means believing in God and believing in Him only. Praised be Jesus Christ.