Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 4 May ‘25
Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:27–32, 40–41; Revelation 5:11–14; John 21:1–19
He Removes My Sackcloth!
In 2019, Gomathi Marimuthu from Manikandam, Tiruchirappalli, won the gold medal in the women’s 800-meter race at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. A photo taken after the race—showing her exhausted, standing with a nearly torn and worn-out pair of shoes—caught the attention of many. Though she proudly called them her “lucky shoes,” it revealed a deeper reality: she couldn’t even afford new footwear. It also exposed how the politics of sport undervalues disciplines like athletics compared to cricket. Even after her golden victory, she didn’t part with her tattered shoes.
Her joy could not strip her of her old shoes.
From broken pens to lucky sarees, wedding garments, ordination vestments, or old diaries—we cherish and cling to old, even torn items, because they link us to our roots, our past. But often—if not always—we carry burdens we should have long set aside. Today’s liturgy gives us hope that God comes to remove these old burdens and clothe us anew.
Let’s begin with today’s responsorial psalm (cf. Ps 30): “You turned my mourning into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”
This literary figure of contrast—mourning and dancing, sackcloth and joy—highlights a dramatic reversal.
David sings that it is the Lord who takes away his sackcloth. Today, sackcloth is made from jute. In the Old Testament, it was made from goat’s hair. This coarse material had several uses: storing food grains, drying floors, covering poultry cages from predators, shielding utensils from dust, even moving homes.
In the Bible, sackcloth is used for three purposes:
(a) Grief or mourning – Jacob mourns his son Joseph (Gen 37:34), Queen Esther dons sackcloth for her people (Est 4:1–2), and David after hearing of his son’s death (2 Sam 12:16).
(b) Repentance – When Jonah preaches in Nineveh, the city puts on sackcloth (Jonah 3:8).
(c) Storage – Joseph hides silver in his brothers’ sack bags (Gen 42:25).
When David says, “You removed my sackcloth,” he is speaking of God lifting his grief and sin. But God doesn’t just leave us naked—He clothes us with joy.
In today’s first reading (Acts 5:27–32, 40–41), Peter and John stand before the same Sanhedrin that had earlier demanded Jesus’ crucifixion. They must have felt fear. The high priest accuses them: “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name?” But they respond boldly, “We must obey God rather than human beings.” This fearless reply stuns the court. Though flogged and humiliated, the apostles leave the council rejoicing, having been “found worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the Name.”
Here, God removes their “sackcloth of fear” and clothes them in “garments of joy.”
In the second reading (Rev 5:11–14), John sees the “slaughtered Lamb”—the same One who had no stately form, despised and rejected by men (cf. Isa 53). Now, the Lamb is ascribed all divine attributes: “power, wealth, wisdom, might, honour, glory, and blessing”—the sevenfold attributes of God. They are now granted to Jesus.
Thus, God removes the “sackcloth of shame” and clothes Him in “robes of glory.”
In the Gospel (John 21:1–19), we encounter the third moment after resurrection. The disciples return to Galilee and to their old profession of fishing—a sign of disillusionment or weariness. Yet Jesus meets them at the shore. As in Luke 5, their empty nets and empty stomachs are filled through His command. Jesus, without reproach, prepares breakfast and tenderly calls them “children.”
In a particularly moving moment, Jesus addresses Peter, who had denied Him three times: “Do you love me more than these?” Three times He asks. Three times Peter replies, “Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus restores him and entrusts him with pastoral leadership: “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” Jesus also predicts how Peter will one day be led where he does not wish to go. “Follow me,” He says.
Here, Jesus removes Peter’s “sackcloth of guilt” and clothes him in “garments of responsibility.”
So, in today’s readings we see: Fear removed and replaced with joy; Shame lifted and covered with glory; Guilt taken away and replaced with mission.
How does this apply to us?
(a) From Fear to Joy. Fear often arises when we exaggerate the power of others and downplay God’s presence. When we recognize both who we are and whose we are—when we realize the “high priest” is just a man, and God is greater—fear dissolves and joy emerges.
(b) From Shame to Glory. Shame diminishes our sense of worth. If we lie to ourselves or fail to live with integrity, we grow internally ashamed. If we endure public humiliation, we must remain patient. When we reduce falsehood and increase patience, shame fades and dignity returns.
(c) From Guilt to Responsibility. Guilt drags us backward. It haunts us with our past. But like Adam naming his wife “Eve” after the fall (Gen 3:20)—choosing to move forward, not wallow—we too must accept our past, but choose to step into our mission. Peter didn’t dwell on his denial but surrendered: “Lord, You know everything, You know I love You.”
And finally—When God comes to take off our old sackcloth, we must rise. Only then can we dance in garments of joy—today and always!
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
Leave a comment