Mary Of The Angelus Association

DAILY MEDITATION

based on the readings for today's Mass.

The readings can be found in your bible or missal.

First Reading: Acts 4:1-12

We continue the amazing story in the Acts of the Apostles of the post-Pentecost Peter and John, who now stand up calmly against the wrath of the rulers, elders and scribes.  They are arrested and imprisoned for "an act of kindness to a cripple".  They have used the occasion of the miracle to preach the doctrine of resurrection from the dead by proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus.  He is also the Saviour.  "For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved".  "The total number of believers had now risen to something like five thousand."

Easter Sequence: Refer to the Easter Sunday readings for this beautiful one thousand year old liturgical poem.

The response to the Psalm: "The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone"

Psalm 117(118): 1-2. 4. 22-27

When Peter names Jesus as the keystone and the stone rejected by the builders, the priests and elders knew very well the psalm Peter is quoting. The statement is clear - "you have rejected the Messiah".

Gospel: John 21: 1-14

"Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing'."  The risen Lord had told them to go into Galilee and wait for him.  So they left Jerusalem and travelled north to Peter's beloved Sea of Galilee, or Sea of Tiberias as it is named in the gospel.

All through the night they caught nothing, but at dawn, when the stranger on the beach told them "throw the net out to starboard and you will find something", "there were so many fish they could not haul the net in." They were only 100 yards off shore.  So easy. John knew it was the Master, and told Peter, who immediately jumped into the water and came running to his Lord.

Jesus had prepared a barbecue for them, cooking the newly caught fish to eat with the bread he had brought.  What a breakfast!

Even today, the pilgrim to the Holy Land can breakfast on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and eat "St. Peter's fish".  Watch out for the bones, but the fish is delicious.