The Gospel reading for Friday in the Octave of Easter (Year
A), John 21:1-14, reminds me of how I came to the Church. In fact, to me, it speaks about how God
“fished” me into the Church, as the Gospel story is about God, who is actually
the best “fisherman”, far better than Peter the fisherman of the Sea of
Tiberius. But, the Johannine account
reminds me of my own entrance into the Church because I view this story as a
sequence to Luke 5:1-10, the Lucan narrative on how Jesus “fished” a bunch of
fishermen of the Lake of Gennesaret, about 3 years prior to the time of the
Johannine account.
……………..
As Jesus was gaining the momentum in his newly launched
public ministry in Galilee, as described in Luke 4: 14-44, he needed to have a
bit of break. So, he just wanted go fishing for himself! So, the following Lucan Gospel narrative,
Luke 5: 1-11, is the story of Jesus “fishing”. In fact, he was “fishing”
fishermen, including Peter (then, called Simon, because he did not figure out
the messianic quality of Jesus yet).
Well, actually, he did not go “fishing” for a vacation. In
fact, this “fishing” he went was also a part of this teaching. I suppose that
Jesus just wanted to spend his time more productively: teaching and “fishing”.
Or, perhaps, Jesus just wanted to try doing his ministry from
the surface of water, giving himself a break from teaching and healing on the
ground. So, he went to the Lake of Gannesaret
, which John calls the Sea of Tiberius.
And, there, he saw two empty boats docked on the shore, and a bunch of
fishermen washing their nets. He must
have arrived just when they were done with fishing for that day.
But, it was exactly when Jesus’ “fishing” – plus teaching on
and from the boat - began!
Jesus is quite smart! He knew what he was doing. He sure
knew how to deal with fishermen, perhaps reluctant fishermen, as he came to
them when they were just done with frustrating fishing, getting none, in spite
of fishing hard all night. And, this
Lucan Gospel tale tells that Jesus sure knew how to “fish” fishermen and
turning them into “extraordinary fishermen”. And, that’s how God “fished” me in!
…….
Seeing two empty boats docked on the shore, and fishermen
cleaning their nets, Jesus invited himself into the head fisherman Peter’s boat
and asked Peter to put the boats off shore. So, Peter did what Jesus said.
As the two boats got off shore, Jesus got into a teaching
posture, which is sitting, as he did when he gave a long sermon on the mount
(Matthew 5-7), and began teaching to the crowds on the shore, as well as to the
fishermen on the boats.
When he finished teaching, Jesus commanded Peter to put his
net into the deep water for a catch (Luke 5:4). But, Peter first responded with
some reluctance, stating, “Master, we have worked hard all
night and have caught nothing” (Luke 5:5).
That’s right. It was a
bad day for Peter and his fellow fishermen, as their all-night hard work of
fishing did not result in any catch at all. But, it was good that Peter tried
as Jesus commanded, stating, “But at your command I will lower the nets” (Luke
5:5).
And, Peter got a net full of catch! And, the net was
breaking (Luke 5:6)! So, the rest of the fishermen got to come and help.
So, they managed to load Peter’s net-breaking catch of fish
onto both boats. But, then, the boats began to sink due to the excessive
weights of the fish (Luke 5:7)!
With all of this happening, Peter became upset and acted as
if he tried to reject Jesus, stating, “Depart from me, Lord,
for I am a sinful man!”(Luke 5:8). But, he casted these seemingly rejecting
words as he was on his knee at the foot of Jesus, showing his respect to him,
while he and all other fishermen were totally consumed by their amazement at
what Jesus did.
Sensing the minds and hearts of Peter and his fellow
fishermen, Jesus tried calm Peter,
stating, “Do not be
afraid; from now on you will be catching men”(Luke 5:10), and got these
anxious fishermen to follow him.
……..
This Lucan Gospel story (Luke 5:1-11) tells how Jesus recruited
the core members of his followers, the Apostles. And, he did it through not only his amazing
teaching but, perhaps, more vividly, through his rather supernatural fishing
skills, which put Peter and other expert fishermen in awe.
In this Gospel story by Luke, the incarnated God, Jesus,
used his own amazing fishing skills as a major bait to fish Peter, then called
Simon.
……
For me, after more than 1,950 years from this amazing “fishing”
event by God in Jesus, the same God fished me with a different bait.
You see, I am not a fisherman, like Peter, though I like
catching, filleting, cooking, making sushi with, and eating fish. Yes, Jesus also loved to eat fish, as the
Johannine Gospel story for Friday in the Octave of Easter Year A, John 21:1-14,
suggests. In this story, Jesus said to
Peter and his fellow fishermen, while they had not yet caught any, “Children, have you caught anything to eat”(John
21:5). And, he also said to them, after
they caught abundantly, thanks to his fishing advice, “Bring some of the fish you just caught”(John
21:10) and hosted fish and bread breakfast for Peter and his fellow fishermen
(John 21:12-13). Also, in the Lucan
story about how the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples in the Upper
Room for the first time, Jesus asked anything to eat. In response, the
disciples offered him boiled fish, and Jesus ate it (Luke 21:41-42). So, no
doubt that Jesus loved eating fishing…not alone but with a bunch of people,
perhaps, especially with fishermen!
So, though God knew so well that I like eating fish and
going fishing, He also knew so well that I had a crush on that girl, a very
beautiful girl. And, she was Catholic,
unbeknownst to me, until my friend told me that she goes to the church he goes.
As a young man, very much interested in a cute girl, my
alarm went off, upon hearing that this girl I had a crush on was going to the
church my friend was going.
I am sure God knew that it was how I would react.
To make a long story short, it was this beautiful girl I had
a crush on, I crossed the threshold of the church inside. At first, I thought I
was going to get to know her better in the church, which she valued. And, my
ego at that time made me bold enough to ask a priest to teach me something
about the Catholicism – so that I would become a good Catholic..no, actually,
at that time, so that I could impress her with my knowledge of the religion
that is so important to her. Of course,
the priest was so willing to teach me. And, he did not ask me why I was seeking
to learn. Perhaps, he thought that my
motive was genuinely to learn about God through the Catholicism.
You see, this beautiful girl was the bait that God used to “fish”
me into His Church. So, I was not to get her.
And, I sure did not. Of course, it was quite disappointing.
But, again, it was my ego at that time that did not make me
quit learning about the Catholicism, even though I completely lost my reason to
learn about the Catholicism and to be in the church she was going. My ego made me afraid of looking bad, like a
quitter. So, I did not quit. And, I would have felt so bad for the kind priest,
who thought I wanted to become Catholic, and patiently taught me. So, a part of
my motive to stick around to the teaching and the church she was going was my
sense of obligation.
And, after that bait, it was the Holy Spirit, which kept me
on learning and in the Church. Then, I began to genuinely become interested in
God and became a more lively catechumen.
And, I happily received the Sacrament of Baptism to officially get into
the God’s Church and the Sacrament of Confirmation to seal my faith strong.
So, this is how God fished me in and made me a follower to
Him through Jesus the Son, in the name of Trinity. And, here I am, still with
God, striving to serve this “fishermen” with all my heart, all my soul, with
all my strength, and with all my mind, through the gifts that He has given me.
I had never imagined myself getting “ fished” and becoming
one of the “fishermen of men” of God the master fisherman, when I was lured by that
bait that God the master fisherman put for me.
And, according to Luke 5:10, Peter was made into a fisher of
men as a result of getting fished by Jesus through a bait of Jesus’ awesome
fishing abilities. As for me, I was made
into another fisher of men upon getting fished by God through a bait of that
beautiful girl I had a crush on.
……….
Now, the Johannine Gospel story for Friday in the Octave of
Easter Year A, John 21:1-14, is about Jesus returning to Peter and his fellow
fishermen, after they deserted him.
Before this Gospel story took place, Peter already witnessed
that Jesus’ tomb was empty but did not understand what the empty tomb really
meant (John 20:1-10). So, Peter must
have gone back to Galilee, the region where he came from, where there is the
Sea of Tiberius (the Lake of Gannesaret) is.
And, it was the place where he use to fish and got “fished” by Jesus to
become his follower as a fisher of men (Luke 5:1-11).
Yes, Peter became the most vocal about his passionate love
for Jesus, among the twelve apostles. He
even said, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny you"(Matthew
26:35), in response to Jesus’ prediction that he would betray him.
Interestingly, when Peter vocally expressed his absolute
loyalty to Jesus, in Matthew 26:35, the rest of the apostles at the Last Supper
also said the same, following Peter (Matthew 26:35). In fact, this pattern is found in the
Johannine Gospel story, as it was Peter who said, “I am going fishing”, to be
followed by the rest of his fellow fishermen saying, “We will also come with
you”(John 21:3).
Peter was a vocal initiator. And, the rest of his peers
followed his lead.
I am sure Jesus appreciated Peter’s such a character. But,
it was not sufficient to be a true fisher of men for Jesus.
So, Jesus had to come back to Peter, even he betrayed him
three times and left him, and the rest of his peers also deserted Jesus completely,
except for John, who managed to return to Jesus at the foot of his cross.
That is why Jesus had to redo his fishing – to do another
fishing of Peter and his fellow fishermen, after he resurrected!
So, while Luke 5:1-11 is the Jesus’ fishing story before his
resurrection, John 21:1-14 is the Jesus’ fishing story after his resurrection.
In a way, the former Gospel story of Jesus’ “fishing” of
Peter and his fellow fishermen is like baptism.
And, as baptism is not good enough to be a true follower of Christ, and
as confirmation is necessary to make our discipleship stronger, the latter
Gospel story of the resurrected Jesus’ “fishing” of Peter and his fellow
fishermen is like confirmation.
Reflecting on my own story of getting fished by God, John
21:1-14 gives me an assurance, because it ascertains that fishing nets that God
cast and keep never break, just as the Peter’s nets were not broken even though
the weight of the fish was so great (John 21:11). The nets were broken when Peter caught so
many fish when he was fished for the first time (Luke 5:6). But, this time, the
second time Jesus fished Peter, the nets were not broken at all.
This tells something so special about the risen Lord!
Upon the Resurrection, it was not only Peter’s nets that
became unbreakable, no matter how heavy the caught fish may be, but, more
importantly, the nets of God the master fisherman are assured to be
unbreakable. What a great sense of
security it is!
………….
As I was fished by God after Jesus was risen, it really
assures me that the nets of God the master fisherman will never break. And,
inside this unbreakable net is where the Kingdom of God is found, together with
countless fish that God the master fisherman has caught!
Once you get fished by God and put into His nets, you will
know that it is better to be inside of His nets than just swimming on your own.
And, I know that the girl I had a crush on, the bait that
God used to fish me into his nets, is somewhere in His immeasurably great nets.
