Third Sunday of Easter
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
	The Gospel today sees Peter and his colleagues after the Resurrection, returning to Galilee and resuming the family business. They are fishing by night. Although it is true that fish feed by night, the mention of darkness here is more about the human spirit than it is about fishing advice. Modern life keeps darkness effectively under control; much of the world has been glowing radiantly through the night for a century. Yet just as surely as the Risen Christ breaks into Peter’s fishing, so does he break into the usual patterns of our own darkness, electric lights notwithstanding. It is Easter, and we are the people of the light.
	In our tradition, Evening Prayer, celebrated in monasteries, parishes, cathedrals, and homes everywhere, is a kind of solemn protest against the darkness and its claims, an act of praise for our light‑bearing God, and a commitment to carrying that light forward. Sunset is a turning point of our day, felt less acutely in an electrified world, but still an effective reminder that one day darkness overtakes us all. Yet our Eastering has taught us in a hundred ways that the victory belongs to the Bearer of Light. Easter summons us to transform our everyday “blackouts,” perhaps in a way as simple as a whispered prayer of thanks at evening for the blessings of the day.
—James Field