Fishing with the Apostles.

Those who have had the opportunity to visit St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome cannot help but feel that the Roman Catholic Church is truly a universal Church, which is not hindered by skin color, nationality, age, and even millennia have not diminished its youthfulness. It is still young and alive. We know that churches and sects arise and disappear even today, yet even those reformed cannot match this Church, which considers the Pope to be Peter’s successor.

The Gospel of John tells of a failed fishing trip, even though experienced anglers were involved. After an encounter with Jesus, of whom we have no record that he has ever fished himself, that is, as a human being, he does not understand, but to the apostles, he says: “Let down the net from the starboard side of the boat, and you will find” (Jn 21:6). They let down the net and could not pull it in anymore because of many fish.

This encounter between Jesus and the apostles is the third after his resurrection. It is not just a story about fishing. Still, this encounter also answers questions that the second generation of Christians have struggled with, asking: Who is the Vicar of the Lord Jesus, and how does the glorified Christ live in the Church?
After the events of Good Friday, the apostles went back to their original craft. What else were they to do but continue the life that Jesus had called them away from and that they had left for Jesus? The seven disciples went hunting, from which they returned unsuccessfully. Jesus wanted to make them fishers of men, and they quickly returned to the fishing net as if nothing had happened.

What about us? The holiday ended, and everything returned to how it was as if nothing had happened. We quickly forget…
But Jesus does not forget his plan. He follows his apostles to the sea. There he wants to remind them of what he has chosen them for. This is their last fishing trip, which becomes a symbol of their future activity. The boat is the Church that sets sail on the world’s surface to catch people in the net of God’s word. John says in the Gospel that the boat belonged to Peter. We know that Christ built the Church on Peter, the rock, and therefore it is the Church of Christ.

Just as Christ found His apostles, He sees us. As in the encounter with the apostles, Christ comes unobtrusively into our lives. But we recognize him by his works. When we listen to his words and put them into action, we become convinced of success.

The apostles obeyed Christ and let down the net where they caught nothing. This expresses their faith, and it is to convince us. What John describes next is breathtaking. The catch of 153 fish is meant to tell us that the composition of the Church is made up of a wide variety of people. There were 153 known species of fish at that time. This symbolism is multiplicities for us that no one is excluded from the Church if he does not want to be. Yet the net is not broken, which means that the Church will have room for every person, that there will be room for all people in the Church. And with this net, they come to the shore, to their goal. All can come to the plan in the Church, which is eternal bliss. There they will meet Jesus. Both the apostles and all who persevere in Christ can sit down at the table and eat with Christ. The apostles recognized Christ, and at once, no one dared to question Him: Who are you? For they knew that he was the Lord. We will all know that He is Lord of life and death, Lord of time and eternity.

We realize that it is not the right way to live when we feel abandoned by Christ, that we must return at once to our former life. On the contrary, we are to learn and accept that we must seek Christ untiringly and, on meeting Him, take Him at once.

We know that Christ has once caught us in His net and wants to bring us in it to eternal life. We are not to fear that we may get out of this net if we do not want to ourselves. Nor do we have to be afraid when the boat begins to sink. Nor do we have to fear other fish or sharks threatening our net. We are safe and secure in Christ’s net of the actual goal.

So this reflection has brought us to the explanation that Peter’s net – the Church – is where the glorified Christ gathers His own to save them. Therefore, faithfulness to the Church is our first duty. Everything against the Church must be understood as a matter of conscience. We must not be seduced, deceived, or even intimidated or bought because this does not coincide with the teaching of Peter’s successor – the Pope.