There is a tendency in the human spirit to yearn for the “good old days.” We have the illusion that things back then were simpler, purer, better. We see this in the nostalgia for the 50s in certain political circles or in the attempt to restore the Latin Mass. The thinking seems to be that if we can recover what was, the problems of today will diminish. The post-resurrection followers of Jesus suffered that temptation. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” He wanted to go back to what he knew before Jesus … but he could not even catch fish without Jesus. He was a different person. Our lives are different because we too are Easter people and must go forward with love.
