Easter 3C25b: John 21:1-19 once again...what kind of faith leaders do we need?

A reflection on John 21:1-19, written and spoken by Kieran J. O'Mahony OSA.

Gentle piano music to close the meditation

Transcript

John’s Lane
D08 F8NW

4 May 2025
John 21:1-19

Welcome
As we gather on this third Sunday of Easter, Pope Francis is still very much in our minds. His death has touched us all — after a life fully lived, lived fully from the inside out. We are experiencing a blend of sadness and gratitude — sadness that a really good pastor and guide has been taken from us; gratitude that he was with us for twelve years and we are all the beneficiaries.

Topic
At the moment we are so to speak between popes and we have an opportunity to reflect on what kind of leadership we need in the faith. As it happens, today’s Gospel is a great help.

Steps
1. The Gospel just read comes from the very last chapter of the Gospel of John. For a first-time reader of the Gospel, the final chapter comes as a surprise because the Gospel already ended in the closing lines of the previous chapter 20, where we read:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

Behind the extra chapter is a story. The community for which this Gospel was written was a very charismatic community, somewhat isolated from other currents of faith, with a great spiritual guide or guru who finally put pen to paper and wrote his Gospel. When you look carefully and try to see what kind of community it was, there is another surprise: there are no traceable ministries or structures. Again, a very charismatic community. The obvious risk is that when the great guru comes to die, the community will simply fall apart. And die he did but the community did not fall apart. This happened because they made a strategic decision.

2. The strategic decision was to come out of their isolation and reconnect with emerging, lower case c, catholic Christianity. Chapter 21, from which our Gospel comes, tells in story form what happened. They agreed to recognise the role of Peter and so he turns up as a fisherman and a shepherd. The fisherman reminds us of the call of the first disciples, when we also hear the ringing words “Follow me”. The shepherd reminds us of the Good Shepherd but also of Peter, the one who betrayed the Lord three times, also at a charcoal fire. Peter is questioned three times and three times he is given the same task: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. The strategy of reconnecting with other currents of the faith was a success and the somewhat isolated John community survived. Even more importantly their Gospel survived and we can still read it today.

3. As you can already tell, numbers are important in the Gospel. Three times Peter is questioned and replies. What about the strange number 153? The best explanation is that according to a geographer of the period, there were 153 different kinds of fish in the sea. The number is indeed a bit low!! But you can see that it points to the universal mission of the church. The same can be said of the number of disciples present, named and unnamed, which is seven. Again, this is a symbolic number suggesting universality, unlike the number twelve, restricted to Judaism and the twelve tribes of Israel.

All this means is that there is a great deal behind the apparently straightforward Gospel just read. I hope the explanation has not been too much!

Conclusion
There are some conclusions to be drawn. First of all, gratitude. I am truly grateful that the Gospel of John survived, a fabulous source of life and inspiration. 

Secondly, communities of faith flourish when they are part of a wider bigger church, as we are. The bishop of Rome, whoever he may be, is our symbol of worldwide community and unity. We need the scaffolding of fellowship.

Thirdly, from this Gospel we can detect what kind of leadership we need today. My own thumbnail sketch is this: 

Firstly, a person of authentic faith and prayer, who can and has learned from his/her mistakes. 
Secondly, someone who genuinely cares for those in his/her charge, a real shepherd. 
Thirdly, someone who can “read” and “name” the times in which we live. Pope Francis did this really well: the dignity of every human being, climate change, migration and war. 
Fourthly, someone who can manage the somewhat humdrum task of practical administration.

Let us pray that the next bishop of Rome will be as much a blessing as Pope Francis was and still is to us all. Amen.