Go Fishing: Jesus Will Meet You Where You Are

In today’s Gospel, John 21: 1-14, the disciples—Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael and James and John –decide to go fishing.  They go back to their old way of living!  Jesus is very much aware of what they are  doing and  meets on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. “Have you caught anything to eat,” Jesus asks them. They respond:  “No!” Jesus then instructs them to cast their net on the right side of the boat “and you will find something.”  The catch is huge: 153 large fish. John then recognizes the man on the shore: “It is the Lord.” When they drag in the fish and come ashore, they notice that Jesus is preparing breakfast for them and ask for some of the catch.

What do we learn from this story? First of all, it is okay to go fishing! Sometimes we need to go back to old ways to meet the Lord.  Notice that the Lord does not scold them. He simply ask if they have caught anything to eat. He is concerned about their well-being physically, about the mundane things of every day life. They are as important to Him as anything else about our lives. 

We also learn that sometimes, we need to leave “the couch” and go do something for fun or to provide for our sustenance. We also learn that Jesus cares about us to the point of preparing a meal for us! He does that every Eucharist, a meal that nourishes us spiritually, cleanses our hearts and minds and wills of anything that obstructs the flow of grace, that strengthens us on the journey to eternal life. 

What a God we have--a God who is fully incarnate: One of us, One with us, One who works through us, as in the first reading of today’s liturgy that references the healing of crippled man through Peter and John’s calling on Jesus’ name.  We, too, have all of the privileges which the apostles experienced!