No Going Back
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. (Jn 21:2-3)
Today’s Gospel story is far from innocent.
In it, we see human nature at it’s less-than-stellar.
After Jesus was crucified and buried, His followers fled. They hid in fear.
Even after many began to see the Risen Lord, they were still not as focused on following Him as they did when He was in their midst on a daily basis.
That is what is happening in the Gospel.
If you remember, Peter and many of his partners were fisherman before Jesus came into their lives.
After Jesus was taken from them — and even though He already had appeared to them after Easter — they began to entertain thoughts of going back to their former way of life. Peter told them, “I am going fishing.” They agreed to go with him.
As it was at first, it came to be again.
Remember, one of Peter’s first encounters with Jesus was after a rough night of fishing. They labored all night and did not catch a thing. Yet, when they came toward shore, Jesus asked them if they had caught anything. When they acknowledged that they did not, He instructed them to put their nets out. They did and caught so many fish that the boat was in danger of capsizing.
It happened again in this post-resurrection account.
They went out to fish. They caught nothing. Jesus hailed them from the shore, though they did not recognize Him. He told them to cast their nets out. They did. They caught so many fish they could not haul them in.
Then, they realized that it was Jesus and they leaped out of the boat to meet Him.
We are often like the Apostles.
We encounter the Lord and He becomes an important part of our lives.
Then, for one reason or another, we drift from Him and find ourselves not able to recognize Him.
Because of an experience, our eyes are opened again and our hearts leap for joy.
We are still in the Octave of Easter and our hearts do leap for joy over the resurrection of the Lord. May we ever recognize Him in our midst!
FAITH ACTION: Have you lost sight of the goal or strayed from the path? Spend some time in prayer asking God for the grace to persevere.