The Miraculous Catch of Fish

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“After these things, Jesus manifested himself again at the Sea of Tiberias. He manifested himself in this way. They were together, Simon Peter and Thomas called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

“Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We also are going with you’” (John 21:1-3).

In the Gospel this morning, we will read about the manifestation of Our Lord in Galilee. He appears to the apostles in the middle of their ordinary work. They are gone back to fishing.

Scripture puts a lot of importance on fishing. St. Josemaría, in the book Furrow, the chapter on apostolate is called “Fishers of Men.”

We are reminded in all sorts of ways how personal apostolate is an intimate part of our Christian vocation. Our apostolate is not something that is added on. It is something very essential, very basic. Something intrinsic.

Our Lord wants us to think with an apostolic mind, to be an apostolic leader, to be thinking about souls—and not just thinking about souls, but also how to catch souls, because fishermen don't just think about the fish; they catch the fish.

They think of all sorts of ways in which they can catch the fish. Their mind is on the fish.

It’s an interesting analogy that Our Lord makes, that our approach to our apostolate has to be like that of a fisherman.

He chose fishermen. They love their fishing. “I am going fishing.” It’s what they like to do. It’s where they like to be. They feel good there doing those ordinary things.

We should try and come to love our apostolate—to be thinking about our apostolate, to be filled with apostolic desires and enthusiasm.

“They said to him, ‘We also are going with you.’” They love to be in their boats. They love to be out casting those nets. They found their fulfillment there, their joy. They developed their talents. Many things were focused there in their fishing.

“They went out and they got into the boat.” Nobody fishes from their living room. It takes a bit of an effort to get into the boat and get out onto the lake.

I saw a man in the Philippines once fishing from some rocks. They were pretty craggy rocks. What was interesting was that he got to the farthest point in the rocks that he could get to. He was about to climb over many other rocks. Maybe he caught himself in the process.

But the important thing was to get to the best place from which he could cast his line.

Fishermen put an effort to maneuver themselves into the best position. They are clever. All the time they are thinking of the fish. They are scheming about how to catch the fish. They love what they are doing.

Our Lord wants to transmit all these messages to us.

We had a surgeon once who, over the various operations on a Monday morning, would talk all about the fishing he had done over the weekend. Then when he was finished with his list, he would tell us he was going off to fish. He just longed to be out there fishing. It filled his whole day. He talked about it.

“They went out and they got into the boat. That night they caught nothing” (John 21:3).

Eight long hours of being there. Maybe it was cold. They had to cast their net and pull it in again and cast their net and pull it in again. It was a lot of effort. Tiring work, and apparently fruitless. “They caught nothing.”

The Scripture is very clear. It wasn't that they caught a few small little fish. That won't go very far, but just, there was nothing.

“But when day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach. The disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (John 21:4).

Our Lord chooses this very beautiful moment when day is breaking. He could have come to them after an hour of fishing or in the middle of the night or at some other moment.

He could have scared the daylights out of them by coming walking on the water as He did on another occasion (Matt. 14:25-27).

But He let them fish. He let them tire themselves out casting the net and pulling it in. Maybe He was watching them. He was seeing the way they were doing it.

He was seeing the way they loved their fishing, and they were at home with their fishing. In some ways, that's what He wanted to see.

These are my guys. These are authentic professional fishermen. They stick at it. They persevere. They love what they're doing.

He chose this very beautiful moment when the sun was coming up, the day was breaking, and He stood on the beach. “Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”

After His resurrection, when Our Lord appears to the apostles very often, He does it slowly. He reveals Himself to them little by little.

He almost lets them discover Him. But He's there with them and they don't see Him.

Our Lord is telling us that when we are doing our fishing, being a fisher of men, He is there with us. He's watching us.

He wants to see our effort. He wants to see the love with which we do things. He wants to see us really committed to the fishing.

The apostles, on this occasion, don't give up. They don't go home. They keep casting their nets. They fulfill all the demands of a full night's fishing.

It must have been something that Our Lord loved to see: virtue in work, dedication, devotion to their fishing. That's the way He wants it to be.

Ultimately, He's going to open their eyes to a whole different type of fishing. And literally, it's going to be an eye-opener.

We could ask Our Lord in our prayer to open our eyes to the apostolic possibilities, to the apostolic potential of our situation.

Our Lord lets them experience this so that they become very convinced of the fact that there are no fish there. They well and truly prove that there are no fish swimming into the net. So they have proved that possibility.

There's no doubt about it. There's just no fish. We've been out here all night and we've done it so many times. And there's just nothing.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Young men, have you any fish?’” (John 21:5).

At the Last Supper, Our Lord addressed the apostles as “little children” (John 13:33). A curious term, “little children.” These were big burly fishermen. But now they've sort of grown up in the last few days and hours.

“Young men…” These are the chosen young men who are going to go out and convert the world. There's a new dynamism in His words. New maturity. “…have you any fish?”

Our Lord already knows that they have no fish. He's been watching them, He's seen them, but He wants to hear it from them.

“They answered him, ‘No.’”

He knows He's about to perform a wonderful miracle. But He also wants to show them that it really is a miracle.

They're very clear that they have caught absolutely nothing, and they have told Him, No.

“He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right of the boat and you will find them’” (John 21:6).

They don't pay too much attention to this stranger on the shore with this funny advice. We are the professionals around here. We know, we've proven to ourselves, that there's no fish for the catching tonight or today or last night. We know the email, the mobile, the address of every fish in this lake.

If we say there's no fish, well then, there's no fish. And who is this stranger on the shore giving us this funny advice: “Cast the net to the right of the boat and you will find them.”

It's as though casting to the right, they're going to find a new light, a new hope, a new success. They're going to be amazed.

Our Lord is also teaching us the importance of obedience in our apostolate, to listen to the Holy Spirit who speaks to us through His channels. Maybe He whispers things in our prayer.

He opens our eyes to a certain soul that may be swimming close to the boat. Or to a certain possibility by this soul or that soul.

That's the way of doing apostolate that He wants us to do: our fishing in the place where we are, according to the particular spirit that God has given to us.

“Cast the net to the right of the boat.” Listen to what I'm telling you. Pay a little bit more attention here, a little bit more attention there. Use a different type of bait. Expand your horizons.

St. Josemaría liked to talk about “opening out like a fan” (Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, Point 193). Rather graphic, “open out like a fan.”

A fan is a very closed thing. But then you open it up and it's completely different and extremely useful. It's not much use when it's closed.

So, with our apostolic horizons, we also have to open out like a fan.

Now what does that mean? Well, it means thinking of all the people that I've ever met in my life: people I knew in primary school, in secondary school; people I've met along the way; fellow students; professional contacts; all the people that I've met along the highways and the byways, because everybody is important.

Every soul that God has brought me in contact with, He has a message for them and a purpose for them. He wants to use me as an instrument.

I am an apostolic instrument of God in His hands. The instrument is always in the hands of the artist. He uses the instrument to paint a wonderful painting.

St. Josemaría used to say we should have ten souls hanging from every finger.

Easy souls and difficult souls. Some that are easy to deal with, others not so easy to deal with.

Souls with whom we, perhaps before, have done nothing. We've caught nothing. All our efforts have been in vain.

But often, souls change with time, like good wine. They see new things. Grace works.

We come at them again in a different way from a different angle. We cast the net to the right of the boat.

There's some activity coming up or a retreat or some other apostolic possibility, and we throw a line at them. And we try them again and again, even after many fruitless efforts. You will find them.

“They cast therefore, and now they were unable to draw it up for the great number of fishes” (John 21:6).

Maybe, initially they thought, ‘Who is this stranger on the shore saying these funny things? Why should we pay any attention to him? We know. We're the experts.’

But possibly after a little bit of discussion, they realized, ‘It can't be any harm. It can't do any harm if we just try the other side of the boat. Just one last go on this fruitless night. We might just, by chance, catch something.’

They did what the person was telling them. Somehow the Holy Spirit got through to them in spite of their tiredness and their efforts, and their not knowing who this stranger on the shore was with his strange advice.

“They were unable to draw it up for the great number of fishes.” There's a superabundance. Our Lord is talking to us here about the fruits of our efforts. Nothing is ever lost. The whole night working in vain, but yet then the fruit comes.

We don't know when Our Lord wants to bring the fruit or in what way.

We see the word ‘fruit’ frequently in Scripture. Fruit doesn't always mean numbers. Sometimes it does, but often it doesn't.

Often the fruit that comes is the fruit of the life of Christ in us.

We become more Christ-like. We develop a greater fisherman’s mentality. We dream of our apostolate. We put more virtue into practice in concrete ways so as to be a more effective instrument.

“Fruit that will last” (John 15:16). A Christ-like spirit of dreaming of all the fish that God wants us to win over time. A great number of fishes.

With our life and with its fruitfulness, God wants us to be able to catch those great numbers of fishes. Marvelous apostolic fruits in the years to come.

There are many things we can learn from the lives of the saints. One in particular from the life of St. Josemaría is the incredible fruitfulness that has come, which did not come in his lifetime—amazing seeds that he sowed that have yielded abundant fruit with the passage of time.

With this, Our Lord is telling us also that He wants to use our life to sow abundant seeds that will yield an abundant fruit.

Possibly very much in the future—things that we will not see on this earth, but hopefully, things we will contemplate forever from heaven.

The great number of fishes—they were “unable to draw it up.”

We are told at the start of the story that there were quite a few apostles. There was Simon Peter and Thomas and Nathanael and the sons of Zebedee, that's another two. And two of His disciples.

More than six or eight people are in the boat and they are still unable to draw it up, with all their strength of young men. It’s enormous. It's huge.

“The disciple whom Jesus loved said therefore to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” (John 21:7).

John again, noble, pure-hearted John, looks again at the stranger on the shore. Who is this person?

It's not Peter that looks again, or Nathanael. It's the youthful John who was so close to the heart of Christ. He looks again and he is the one that sees it is the Lord.

It's a beautiful phrase, Dominus est in Latin. How often in our prayer or in spiritual direction or in Confession do we hear things?

And when we hear those things, the pieces of advice, we realize this can only have come from God. This is so specific, so appropriate, so tailor-made. The Holy Spirit is speaking to me.

We experience that same experience of John: “It is the Lord” (John 21:7).

Our Lord is giving us that apostolic advice, to cast our net here, cast our net there, or work at this virtue, or say this aspiration this week. Little pieces of advice are there to help us to grow to be a better fisherman. “It is the Lord.”

Or sometimes in our prayer, Our Lord might whisper something to us, or point out a certain soul to us, or lead us to take a resolution to cast our net to the other side of the boat.

To have this little initiative, to start this other thing, a Circle, a class. Or to look at this apostolic activity from a different perspective.

He opens our eyes to see the potential of this recollection or that class, of how important it is, of how much we have to take care of it, because the fruits will come.

“Simon Peter, therefore, hearing that it was the Lord, girt his tunic about him, for he was stripped, and threw himself into the sea” (John 21:7b).

Immediately he hears, “It is the Lord.” He leaves the boat and wants to be with Christ.

Things are improving. The reaction is a bit better than on Easter Sunday morning, that sudden changes come about in his actions and reactions. He is growing in faith.

“But the other disciples came with the boat for they were not far from the land, only about two hundred cubits off, dragging the net full of fishes” (John 21:8).

The others didn't follow suit with Peter. They were a bit more responsible; not quite as impulsive. They didn't want to lose the fish.

“Therefore, they had landed and they saw a fire ready, and fish laid upon it, and bread” (John 21:9).

Our Lord, having given them great apostolic and supernatural indications about casting their net—now the focus turns to much more material things, their human needs.

Our Lord takes care of them humanly. He looks after the apostles.

In our profession of caring, we are very much involved in taking care of the apostles, looking after the material basic needs that are needed for the apostolate.

Our Lord has prepared all these things. And now the advice He gives them, or the indications, are much more material. “‘Bring here some of the fishes you’ve just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net onto the land, full of large fishes, 153 in number” (John 21:10-11).

So now the numbers become very specific. They count the fish because it's such a huge number. And they realize it's a big number, 153 big fish.

The fruitfulness that Our Lord wants to bring about with our correspondence is enormous. He promised us these great possibilities.

“And although there were so many, the net was not torn” (John 21:11b). They were able to handle that.

Someday we might get such an influx of people coming to our recollection or retreat. We wonder where they've come from.

Happily, in this region, where we see big numbers all the time, Our Lord will lead us to be able to handle the expansion; the hungry souls that come looking for food.

St. Josemaría says, “Refuse to look at the difficulties. Be optimistic, and having applied your usual supernatural means, cast your nets. It is for this that you are like Peter and like the twelve fishers of men (cf. Matt. 4:19)” (cf. J. Escrivá, Three Circular Letters, March 24, 1939).

“Refuse to look at the difficulties.” The apostles on the boat could have said, ‘Well, no, look, we're tired, we don't want to cast the nets again.’

They could have come up with a whole series of sterile laments: ‘It's no use. We've done it a hundred times. We're tired.’

They could have had a fear of catching fish because the net might break. All sorts of other things.

“Be optimistic.” Easter brings with it a new optimism.

In apostolate, we never lose. Electi mei non laborabunt frustra–“My chosen ones do not labor in vain” (Isa. 65:23).

“And having applied your usual supernatural means…” St. Josemaría in The Way talks about what they are: “In the first place, prayer. In the second place, active mortification. In the third place, very much in the third place, action” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 82).

Our prayer and mortification come first. Then “having applied those usual supernatural means, cast your nets.” Follow through with the action. Swing that net far and wide. Spread it in a broad space.

But make sure you cast it. The action is also important—to make that phone call, to meet that person, to bring up this topic.

It is for this that you are. This is the purpose of our life. This is part and parcel of our Christian vocation.

We should try and learn to be more effective apostles like Peter and like the twelve fishers of men.

“Do the sowing then. I assure you, in the name of the Lord of the harvest (Matt. 9:38), that there will be a good crop. But make a generous sowing. … The whole world” (Ibid.).

Our Lord wants from us a generous sowing. Think of all the souls that I have to try and reach.

St. Josemaría said, “Out of a hundred souls, we are interested in a hundred” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 9). He said, “Spread out like a fan” (cf. Id., Furrow, Point 193). Don't huddle up in a corner like a rabbit. Don't think small. Think big.

So sometimes we have to bring to our apostolate our list of friends and contacts. ‘What does Our Lord want me to say to this person or to that person?’ Chat in spiritual direction about it. ‘These are my plans. This is what I plan to do.’

Our apostolate is a directed apostolate. We cast our nets where we’re encouraged to cast our nets. We listen to what we’re told and suggested.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and breakfast.’” (John 21:12). Now He comes down to the most material, from the most supernatural to the most natural.

He looks after their stomachs. He cares for their material needs. They are tired. They have been working all night. They are hungry. Our Lord answers to that need.

Those human things—He takes care of them, because He needs them for future fishing. The future apostolate they are going to do is going to be something very important.

They have to live a long time and they’ve got to eat well, and they’ve got to do all sorts of different things because of the apostolate.

“Come and breakfast.” Don't just come and stare at me, and forget that you need to eat, and be so amazed that I have risen from the dead. Our Lord focuses them on the human things.

“And none of those reclining dare to ask, ‘Who are you’ knowing that it was the Lord” (John 21:12b).

On the one hand, they know it is Our Lord. They are growing in faith, but they are not quite there yet. It is not completely developed, this idea that He has truly risen from the dead.

“Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he had risen from the dead” (John 21:13-14).

This particular apparition is very apostolic-focused. Our Lord is speaking to the apostles, but He is speaking to each one of us, and to all Christians of all time: ‘Cast the net. Be a fisherman. Listen to what I tell you.’

Blessed Álvaro said, “It is a great moment that we increase our own sense of responsibility in the apostolate.”

Sense of responsibility. What can I do? How can I take on my shoulders the responsibility for this apostolic activity? For this apostolic thrust? For this apostolic need? For this intention of the Holy Father? For this particular goal that we are working towards?

How can I spread that concern to other people, so that they also increase their sense of responsibility?

You have to try and find twenty people to do the work of one, instead of one trying to do the work of twenty.

He said, “Be very attentive to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord doesn't leave us alone in our apostolate. He gives us ideas. He points us in a certain direction. He concretizes the plan very much. He wants us to concretize it even further.

“Ask for enlightenment. Go to those who are there with the grace of state to help us.” What do you think? What do you think of this idea? What do you think I should be doing?

How can I be more active in my apostolate? How can I take better care of this activity? How can we get more people for this other recollection or class or initiative?

How can I think out of the box? And also, not just thinking about the particular apostolic activity that I have entrusted to me, but the work in that particular town or that particular village or that other place that may be far away—how can I try to bring that forward, at least in my prayer, in my mortification—so that I feel responsible for the whole apostolic enterprise in the whole country, in the whole world?

“Trust your spontaneity,” he says, “in searching for new friends and bringing them to Jesus Christ, to the Work.”

Spontaneity. Search for new friends. Break new ground. Be involved in different organizations. Be in contact with an awful lot of people.

I remember a nun in Singapore once whom I was talking to. I was talking about, I think, having written an article or something for the local Catholic newspaper.

She was an elderly lady who’d been there many years. She just said a few words. She said, “Have an influence.”

Have an influence. I have always been struck by those words. How important it is that we all have an influence.

We’re meant to influence our environment. We’re meant to influence society. Influence public opinion: newspapers, TV, radio, WhatsApp, social media. Be active in these places.

Search for those new friends, bringing them to Christ. Bring the doctrine of Christ to them also. That new light, that new hope.

Part of being an Easter people means that we begin again in our apostolate on a new level, like the apostles did.

He says, “The Church and civil society need our initiative.” Beautiful words on the lips of an ordinary Christian.

A lay person who is called to all of the temporal realities of society, of the world, to God. Initiative, that of each one of us, in order to open up new fields of the apostolate.

New fields, new horizons. How can I reach that area of society or that village or that town or people in that profession? Always looking for new fields.

“The situation we are going through,” he says, “—very good for our sanctification—calls for an evangelizing action that is both capillary and incisive. Let it be known that we do want Christ to reign in all human activities.”

The apostolic formation that Our Lord is giving to us is telling us that the sky’s the limit. We're here for the long term. We're here to have an impact. We're here to catch those 153. The large fish.

It's a great goal that Our Lord places in front of us.

We can ask Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, from meditating on this miraculous catch of fish, that we too might also dream of that miraculous catch: all those wonderful fish that Our Lord wants us to catch and that He wants to catch with our cooperation.

Queen of Apostles, pray for us.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW