If there is one golden thread that runs through the first reading and Gospel passage, it is that both Peter and Paul had had personal encounters with the Risen Lord. This encounter transformed them, and as such their lives would never be the same again.

Peter was a person who tended to act or rather react, and speak without thinking carefully. And when placed under great pressure, cowardly denied Christ. However, his encounter with the Risen Lord at the seaside transformed him into a responsible and brave leader of the early Church. He takes on the role of shepherd to the community, one who is willing to lay down his life for Christ.

Paul was a former persecutor of the Church. He was an ardent and zealous Jew, ever eager to capture the followers of Christ and to send them to their death. His personal encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, transforms him. The persecutor of Christians now becomes a great preacher of Christ and his message, one who is willing to die for who he believes in.

What about you? Have you been aware that, just as Jesus appeared to Peter and Paul, he has also personally appeared to you in numerous ways during the Easter Season? Did you take time to recognise him and have a true encounter with him? If you did, then surely something in your life would have been transformed. You would know it, feel it and live it!