Friday 25 April 2025 - The third time

Friday 25 April 2025

Thank you for praying with us today. We ask those who use our app to wait at the end of this prayer session for some important information, if you haven’t caught it already. But for now, have a blessed prayer time. Today is Friday the 25th of April, in the 1st week of Eastertide. The community of Taizé sing, ‘I exult and rejoice in your love.’ (Lyrics currently unavailable) Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John. John 21:1-14 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. “That night, they caught nothing”. Imagine being there with this group of followers… What is their mood at this point, do you think? Perhaps the events of the last few days are also playing a part in this mood… The beloved disciple said, “It is the Lord”. How did he know, do you think? Now listen once more as the passage is read to you. What strikes you most about it? Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. Jesus invited them to “have breakfast”. Is Jesus inviting you to something? What might it be? Speak with him about this, as one friend speaks to another… Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen Thank you for waiting around for this short announcement. We have been listening to our community for the last few years and are now making changes to our app. We will be simplifying your daily prayer journey and hope that these changes will allow for a better service and an even smoother time of prayer. From the 28th April, we will begin to phase in our new app experience over the coming weeks. This should happen automatically, so you don’t need to download a different app. We believe that prayer should be between you and God, therefore we have strong privacy policies in place. However, this unfortunately means that we won’t be able to carry forward any journal entries, favourited prayers or downloads into our new app, as we do not store any data, and therefore can’t migrate it. We are sorry for this and understand it will be difficult. However, we invite those who would like to save any journal entries to do so by copying and pasting the days they would like to move over to a personal digital notebook on their own device. Also, you can note down any favourite prayer days and re-favourite any of them on the new app. You can also get in touch with us through our website or by emailing feedback@pray-as-you-go.org and we can assist you. Although this is a new change, we hope that the app will bring about a fresh season and a steady home for your prayer life, and we have plenty of new content arriving for everyone too. Thank you for your support, and to everyone who has given financially towards this project. If you would like to support us in this new stage, please head over to prayasyougo.org/donate to take a look at our new website and to help grow prayer journeys for a global community. Thank you, and every blessing for Eastertide.