"Jesus was revealed": Seeing Christ

Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We also will come with you."
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?"
They answered him, "No."
So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something."
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord."
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught."
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast."
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?"
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.

So I never realized just how many times Christ showed himself after the Resurrection.




Of course, there's the really well known times such as when Christ appeared in the upper room behind locked doors or on the road to Emmaus. Now, I like to think that I am fairly well versed in Scripture, but for some crazy reason, this is the first time I heard this particular appearance during daily Mass today. Which of course, made me pay even more attention. In comparison to the time in the upper room, when the disciples saw but refused to believe, this time the disciples saw but did not recognize. How amazing is that? These were the men who stood by Christ's side through his earthly ministry. These are the men who saw Christ crucified on a cross. These are the men, after the Resurrection, were invited by Christ to literally poke their fingers in the holes on His body. After all of this, they still failed to recognize...failed to see Christ in their midst.

Why did Christ to do this? Why couldn't his own Apostles recognize him? And what does that say for us? How many times have we seen Christ in our lives...truly seen him? How many times have we seen and not recognized? Or worse, how many times have we seen and not believed? Now I am not nearly learned enough to answer these questions with any kind of wisdom or satisfactory answer. But I can answer for myself: I don't know. And that scares me.

"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

How many times have I failed in this regard? How many times have I literally failed Him? This is not meant to be a guilt trip, but it should speak to the amazing glory of God. His disciples saw, but didn't believe; they saw, but didn't recognize, yet Christ still loved them. For all their failings, for all their unbelief, for all their blindness, Christ loved them. I take great comfort in that. Have you seen Christ? Blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe.

May we all be so blessed.

Dominus vobiscum.