By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily while celebrating the Mass for the third Sunday of Easter with firefighters of Miami-Dade. Firefighters pilgrimage to St. Mary Cathedral on the International Firefighters' Day and the feast of their patron, St. Florian, May 4, 2025.
Today is the third Sunday of Easter and it is also May 4th, the feast day of St. Florian, an early martyr of the Church. He was a Roman soldier in charge of the fire brigade. He was martyred for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan Gods and therefore betray his newfound religion. After his death, he became the patron saint of firefighters. So, on the feast of St. Florian, we wish to welcome firefighters from all over Miami-Dade to the Cathedral this morning on a Holy Year pilgrimage. Thank you for what you do for us: your duty is our protection. May the intercession of St. Florian protect you in what is a high-risk profession.
The first reading and the Gospel reading for today’s Third Sunday of Easter puts the figure of Peter front and center. In the Acts of Apostles, Peter is preaching and healing people – with some success – to the point that he and the other apostles were called on the carpet by the Sanhedrin.
Peter is “rock-solid” in his resolve to preach the name of Jesus Christ.
“We must obey God rather than men.” “And they rejoiced because they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.”
That’s quite a difference from Holy Thursday evening, after Jesus’ arrest, when they all abandoned him with Peter denying him three times while warming himself next to a charcoal fire. And it is still quite a distance from the shores of the Sea of Tiberias when Peter and the others returned to what they knew before Jesus: being fishermen. The Risen Lord once again makes his presence felt and reminds them that they are no longer mere fishermen but fishers of men.
Now, next to another charcoal fire, Peter has the chance to walk back his betrayal. (It’s interesting that the Gospels only mention a charcoal fire twice: once in the courtyard where Peter denied knowing Jesus and now along the seashore where Peter affirms that he loves Jesus.)
Do you love me? Jesus asks Peter. (You know, how you’d say in Italian, do you love me? Mi ami?)
In any case, before Jesus asked Peter or even us this question, he went to a lot of trouble to first assure us that he really does loves us. He died making the point. Knowing that he has loved us first should make it easier for us to say that we do love him too.
But when Peter professes his love of Jesus, Jesus commissions him to care for the flock, to feed the sheep. Loving the Lord is always a charge to care for others and caring for others as firefighters well know requires courage, dedication, and selflessness. Our faith which invites to look outward and beyond can certainly strengthen our resolve to care for others, to love others as Jesus asks us. And today we also pray that your faith, firefighters, can strengthen in your unwavering commitment to protecting others.
Our Catholic faith is more than just narcissistic navel gazing or an over-simplified sentimentalism. It is not a self-absorbed seeking self-fulfillment found through esoteric teachings or practices. Our love of God does not distract us from our love of neighbor.
Jesus before he ascended into heaven gave us the Great Commission to preach the Gospel to all nations, all peoples.
In today’s Gospel, we see that great commission represented in the miraculous catch of fish, 153 fish to be exact. In first century, Palestine, the Jews, if they were to consult a geography book of their time, would find a list of 153 known countries. In other words, the net of the Church is to draw in all the nations.
But to care for others, to share with others the good news about Jesus, we often must stretch ourselves – going beyond our comfort levels and sometimes making others a bit uncomfortable. That certainly was the case with the apostles and the Sanhedrin. They weren’t comfortable with the Apostles preaching in the name of Jesus and ordered the Apostles to stop teaching in the name of Jesus.
The Sanhedrin today are those who would tell us to shut up by telling us that religion is private and that we have no right to “impose our views” on others. Religion – and our faith in Jesus Christ – is certainly personal but not private and we don’t impose, we propose. “To obey God rather than men” today demands that we do not capitulate on issues regarding the sanctity of human life – from conception till natural death. “To obey God rather than men” means that we resist those who would compel us to approve sexual practices and behaviors that deny or contradict the truth about marriage and family.
Opening our hearts to others and their needs – recognizing Jesus in the person of the prisoner, the migrant, the hungry and the homeless – is an opportunity for each one of us for salvation and blessedness.
As I said that question of Jesus, “Do you love me?”, is also directed to each of us. And like Peter when he was warming himself by the charcoal fire in the courtyard, we may have denied knowing him. But now Jesus addresses us by the seashore. He is more interested in our future than our past; he does not take up time with bitter recrimination.
Do you love me? He asks us. Yes, Lord, you know that we love you, we answer. Then, follow me, he tells us.
