Jesus has returned to the Sea of Galilee, where He had made miracles with loaves and fishes. Now He is about to do the same, only this time, His disciples will fully understand what is being revealed. He has been shaping them over time, to be the kind of disciples who catch people. But the ‘catch’ live in the depths which, so far, they have not been able to see. Drawing fish from these depths, suggests a new awareness has arrived, and with it, a new day and the new dawn.
The focus in today’s Gospel is St. Peter. His horror at the idea that Jesus should wash his feet (Jn.13:1-38) his triple denial (Jn.13:36) and bitter tears, reveal a man who wants to be close to Jesus but does not yet understand Him. The ability to follow Jesus depends entirely on receiving and understanding the foot washing. Peter has to plug his beautiful ego into something even more beautiful. It is not his calling to lay down his life to save Jesus, but to be receptive to the gift, and draw strength from the source of all life. (Jn.1:3). And Jesus trusts that Peter will find the way. There is an ‘afterwards’ that Jesus is looking forward to – a Morning of enlightenment where Peter will see that his unplugged ego will not bring him to the place where he will understand and follow. Only after the dark night of emptiness has run its course will Peter find Jesus waiting on the other shore, offering the Kingdom of God for breakfast.
The Risen Jesus does what the earthly Jesus does. He invites His disciples to sit and eat a ‘breakfast’ – symbol of this new dawn. Whatever is on the menu, it is Jesus Himself who is the nourishment. Disciples must eat and ingest the Love that holds out the bread and the fish. This is the third appearance of the Risen One. As such, it marks an end to one thing and the beginning of another. In this new era, whenever Jesus’ disciples gather for a community meal, they will feed on a Love which will fill their famished souls. And now that Peter has allowed Jesus to feed him, he understands and knows what he must do. Peter will say to the One who knows all things, “You know that I love you”. Only now that he has made the connection does he have the strength to feed Jesus disciples and to give his life for them. Peter’s following will be faithful and complete to the end. (Jn.13.1)
The Gospel story ends with the instruction ‘Follow Me’. Disciples will only catch fish when the have made the journey from the charcoal fire of the night, where ego can only deny and betray the truth, to the charcoal fire of the new dawn. Only those who allow Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, to teach and feed them will be effective in making new disciples of the Kingdom. It depends totally on the conversion which constantly seeks to mirror that teaching and actions of the Christ.
Margaret Wheatley offers this Sacred model for modern times: “Many writers have offered new images of effective leaders. Each of them is trying to co-create imagery for the new relationships that are required, the new sensitivities needed to honour and elicit worker contributions. Here is a very partial list of the new metaphors to describe leaders: gardeners, midwives, stewards, servants, missionaries, facilitators, conveners. Although each takes a slightly different approach, they all name a new position for leaders, a stance that relies on new relationships with their network of employees, stakeholders and communities. No one can hope to lead any organisation by standing outside or ignoring the web of relationships through which all the work is accomplished. Leaders are being called to step forward as helpmates, supported by our willingness to have them lead us. Is this a fad? Or is it the web of life insisting that leadership join in with appropriate humility”.
(Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World [San Francisco:Berrett-Koehler
Publishers,1999]165)
