Daily Mass Gospel Reflection - The Catch Of The Day

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 4.14.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

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FRIDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER
John 21:1–14

Friends, today’s Gospel tells of the appearance of the risen Jesus
to seven disciples by the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Peter and six other Apostles were in a boat on the sea.
Seeing Peter and the disciples in a boat,
we are meant to think of the Church,
and the peculiar number of seven—evocative of completion or fulfillment—
is meant to make us consider the eschatological Church,
the community of Jesus approaching the end of its journey.

On the shore (though they don’t recognize him at first) is the Lord Jesus.
At his command, they lower their nets and bring in an extraordinary catch.
Well, this is the work of the Church until the end of the age:
to gather in souls and to bring them to Christ.

When they empty their nets, they discover 153 large fish.
Many theories as to the meaning of this figure have been proposed.
My favorite is the one put forward by St. Augustine.
According to the science of that time, Augustine argued,
there were 153 species of fish in the sea, and therefore,
this extraordinary number is meant to signal
the universality of the Church’s salvific mission.

[MurphsLaw]

+++Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We also will come with you."
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn,
Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them,
"Children, have you caught anything to eat?"
They answered him, "No."
So he said to them, and you will find something."
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
"It is the Lord."
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore,
only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught."
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast."
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?"
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.+++

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