FRIDAY, EASTER OCTAVE
Acts 4: 1-12; Ps 118: 1-2, 4, 22-27; Jn 21: 1-14
STRONG EXPERIENCE = CONVICTION + CONFESSION
There is saving power in the holy name of Jesus: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13). “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” (Rom 10:11).
Strong Experience: The disciples had a strong experience of the Risen Lord at the shore of Tiberius. The interaction transformed their timid hearts. In today’s gospel, we see the disciples’ experience of Jesus who was Risen. They who had decided to go back to their old occupation disregarding their vocation to follow Jesus; they who had lost all their dreams and expectations in Jesus; encounter on the shore of their complete hopelessness, the Risen Lord. He is compassionate towards: “Children do you have any fish” was a question for self examination. They sincerely confessed that they had nothing. When they obeyed his command, they experienced abundance and his power. Without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5) but with Jesus, we can do all things (Ph 4:13).
Strong Conviction: In the contest of the miraculous healing of the lame beggar at the gate of the temple, the apostles Peter and John were arrested. They were questioned about the authority of their action. However, they were bold enough to say that it was in the authority of the Holy Name of Jesus that the lame man was cured.
Strong Confession: They converted the trial rooms into preaching halls. Times and places of persecutions became opportunities for preaching. They feared no one in giving testimony to Jesus. Even amidst the gentiles, they gave testimony to the holy name of Jesus. The stronger our experience with Lord, the stronger will be our conviction. The stronger our conviction, the stronger will be your confession. Weak confession indicates our weak conviction and weak experience.
Response: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
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