After the Resurrection, we might have expected the disciples to rush off in a frenzy of enthusiasm spreading the good news, but no, today we find them back on the lake fishing. When you stop for a minute to imagine what it might have been like to be in Peter’s shoes perhaps it isn’t all that surprising. Peter had given up everything for Jesus and promised his all. But despite all his promises, Peter had ended up denying Jesus three times. Almost certainly he would have been suffering from feelings of crippling guilt and insurmountable failure. Is it really any wonder that fishing suddenly seemed a more attractive option than evangelising?

But for Jesus, giving up is not an option. Jesus appears at dawn by the lakeside where he asks Peter. “Do you love me?” Three times Jesus asks the same question … the same number of times that Peter had previously denied him. It’s as though Jesus is giving Peter the chance to put right a wrong. This is part of Peter’s healing process. This is Peter’s big chance to put his hopes and dreams back on track. Then Jesus, who has known all along what is in  Peter’s heart, gives him a gentle reminder of his commission to shepherd his Church.

There’s a heartening message for us too in this story. How many times do we see in the Bible people getting not just second chances but third and fourth chances? We can get things wrong and we can let ourselves down … but God who knows what is in our hearts, reminds us that he is there to take away the burden of our guilt and of ourfailures and set before us new horizons and second   chances. We are not expected to be perfect; we are only expected to be human.