Login \| Contact



Homilies Advent Advent Week 1 Year A Week 1 Year B Week 1 Year C Week 2 Year A Week 2 Year B Week 2 Year C Week 3 Year A Week 3 Year B Week 3 Year C Week 4 Year A Week 4 Year B Week 4 Year C Christmas Baptism of the Lord Year A Baptism of the Lord Year B Baptism of the Lord Year C Epiphany Year A Epiphany Year B Epiphany Year C Holy Family Year A Holy Family Year B Holy Family Year C Mary Mother of God Year A Mary Mother of God Year B Mary Mother of God Year C Mass at Midnight Year A Mass at Midnight Year B Mass at Midnight Year C Back to the Boat Heaven to Earth, Sea to River Lent Lent Week 1 Year A Week 1 Year B Week 1 Year C Week 2 Year A Week 2 Year B Week 2 Year C Week 3 Year A Week 3 Year B Week 3 Year C Week 4 Year A Week 4 Year B Week 4 Year C Week 5 Year A Week 5 Year B Week 5 Year C Ash Wednesday "Do You Want to Be Healed?" Holy Week Passion Sunday Year A Passion Sunday Year B Passion Sunday Year C Holy Thursday Good Friday Easter Vigil "Where Peter Is" Easter Sunday Easter Sunday Year A Easter Sunday Year B Easter Sunday Year C Easter Season Week 2 Year A Week 2 Year B Week 2 Year C Week 3 Year A Week 3 Year B Week 3 Year C Week 4 Year A Week 4 Year B Week 4 Year C Week 5 Year A Week 5 Year B Week 5 Year C Week 6 Year A Week 6 Year B Week 6 Year C Week 7 Year A Week 7 Year B Week 7 Year C Ascension Ascension Year A Ascension Year B Ascension Year C Pentecost Pentecost Year A Pentecost Year B Pentecost Year C ORDINARY TIME Ordinary Time Wks 2-7 Ord. Time Week 2 Year A Week 2 Year B Week 2 Year C Week 3 Year A Week 3 Year B Week 3 Year C Week 4 Year A Week 4 Year B Week 4 Year C Week 5 Year A Week 5 Year B Week 5 Year C Week 6 Year A Week 6 Year B Week 6 Year C Week 7 Year A Week 7 Year B Week 7 Year C Ordinary Time Wks 8-13 Week 8 Year A Week 8 Year B Week 8 Year C Week 9 Year A Week 9 Year B Week 9 Year C Week 10 Year A Week 10 Year B Week 10 Year C Week 11 Year A Week 11 Year B Week 11 Year C Week 12 Year A Week 12 Year B Week 12 Year C Week 13 Year A Week 13 Year B Week 13 Year C Ordinary Time Wks 14-19 Week 14 Year A Week 14 Year B Week 14 Year C Week 15 Year A Week 15 Year B Week 15 Year C Week 16 Year A Week 16 Year B Week 16 Year C Week 17 Year A Week 17 Year B Week 17 Year C Week 18 Year A Week 18 Year B Week 18 Year C Week 19 Year A Week 19 Year B Week 19 Year C Ordinary Time Wks 20-25 Week 20 Year A Week 20 Year B Week 20 Year C Week 21 Year A Week 21 Year B Week 21 Year C Week 22 Year A Week 22 Year B Week 22 Year C Week 23 Year A Week 23 Year B Week 23 Year C Week 24 Year A Week 24 Year B Week 24 Year C Week 25 Year A Week 25 Year B Week 25 Year C Ordinary Time Wks 26-31 Week 26 Year A Week 26 Year B Week 26 Year C Week 27 Year A Week 27 Year B Week 27 Year C Week 28 Year A Week 28 Year B Week 28 Year C Week 29 Year A Week 29 Year B Week 29 Year C Week 30 Year A Week 30 Year B Week 30 Year C Week 31 Year A Week 31 Year B Week 31 Year C Ordinary Time Wks 32-34 Week 32 Year A Week 32 Year B Week 32 Year C Week 33 Year A Week 33 Year B Week 33 Year C Week 34 Year A Week 34 Year B Week 34 Year C First Move Letting Go of the Tree Major Feast Days All Souls 1 All Souls 2 Body and Blood of Christ Year A Body and Blood of Christ Year B Body and Blood of Christ Year C Christ the King Year A Christ the King Year B Christ the King Year C Peter and Paul Apostles Trinity Sunday Year A Trinity Sunday Year B Trinity Sunday Year C In Memoriam Memorial of Victory "Up to Jerusalem" Sacred Humanity Homiletic Bibliography Bibliography Pt I (A-G) Bibliography Pt II (H-N) Bibliography Pt III (O-Z) Commentary Catholic Life Faith & the Cult of Pleasantness Fatherhood and Family Holy Marriage, Holy Family Jesus Calls Me Friend Outdoor Plumbing Works of Mercy Defending the Catholic Church Confession Living Letter Bathing Often Eucharist Divine Authority Human Pride Mother of God Persecution Philosophy Priesthood and Papacy Respect for Life Gospel of Luke - Study Luke Chapters 1 - 2 Luke Chapters 3 - 4 Luke Chapters 5 - 6 Luke Chapters 7 - 8 Luke Chapters 9 - 10 Luke Chapters 11 - 12 Luke Chapters 13 - 14 Luke Chapters 15 - 16 Luke Chapters 17 - 18 Luke Chapters 19 - 20 Luke Chapters 21 - 22 Luke Chapters 23 - 24 Questions & Answers Catholic Belief Fortitude: Gift or Virtue? Great Commandment Hierarchy of Truth Same-sex Partnerships Catholic Practice Holding Hands at Mass Wearing Shorts at Mass Hierarchy Church Hierarchy Hierarchy of Truth Scandal and Trust Why a Pope and Bishops? Liturgy Holding Hands at Mass Hymn Resource for Mass Lay Ministry - Liturgy Substituting Song for Sign of Peace Wearing Shorts at Mass Relationship Devotion and Trust Marriage and Celibacy Tell Him the Truth Thorn in Your Side Respect Life Does Ignorance Justify Abortion? Human Personhood On the Subject of Cloning Sacraments Baptism - Child of Civil Union Does the Eucharist Reveal Jesus? Male Priesthood of Christ Sign and Symbol INRI - Crucifix World Affairs Immigration Worries Mercy, Justice and World Affairs Unite on United Nations? Walking with the Word - Lessons Walking with the Word - Lessons A-M Blessed Are You Deep Water "Father, Forgive Them" Garden, Stable & City of God - Part 1 Garden, Stable & City of God - Part 2 God Knows God Loves You Because God's Heart of Love Humanity of Man "Lamentation" "Let Us Go Down" - Part 1 "Let Us Go Down" - Part 2 "Let Us Go Down" - Part 3 "My Power in You" Walking with the Word - Lessons N-Z New Growth on an Old Vine New Wrinkle on an Old Story "One Degree of Glory to Another" Proof of Peace Reason & Acting Reasonably Solomon's Ring Standard of Dress for Mass Sword of Sorrow "Take Off Your Shoes" Take Up Your Cross - Part 1 Take Up Your Cross - Part 2 "Thou Little Tiny Child" True Food - Part 1 True Food - Part 2 Watch, Hat and Scissors Word of Justice, Word of Mercy Reflections Big or Small Christmas Present Clean White Corporal Christian Prayer Delivered from Fear Do You Love Me More? Elegant Recovery Entrust the Sick to God Faith and Choosing Faithful Follower Friendship with Christ Good Physician He Gave Me Wings Heaven's Ecology I Don't Need the Church Last Defense Living Biography of the Church Love Is Hungry Making Bread Thoughts on Merton Our Lady of Divine Grace Remnant Saying Yes to God Self-reflection Sentences Armor of God Counting Your Blessings Passage on Peter's Boat Virginity Sock Puppet Sun, Mast and Horizon We Lament Window of Receptivity Would He Die for One? Devotions Divine Mercy Chaplet Embracing Mercy Indulgence Novena Litany of the Sacred Heart Lord's Prayer Our Lady of Divine Grace Rosary Fatima Rosary Vigil Rosary Saint Therese Centenary Chaplet Seven Last Words of Christ Various Authors Augustine of Hippo Benjamin Franklin Clement of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch John Henry Cardinal Newman J.R.R. Tolkien Michel Quoist Pope Benedict XVI Pope Pius XII Various Prayers Blessing for a Pregnancy Circle of Faith Choice Vines For Fathers For My Son For Spiritual Fatherhood Gathered Like Wheat Grateful Praise Healing Medicine Hidden Wisdom Hour Has Arrived My Little Girl No One Else but God O Lord Your Love O Shepherd Prayer for the Military Sake of Blessing Sweet Grapes Teachable Heart Thousand Years To All but You O Lord To Father Son and Spirit Wheat and Grape

JESUS SAID to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. [Jn 21:10-11]

Artist: Victor Luciano Rebuffo

(1903-1983)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

BREAD AND FISH STORY ^_[1]

DEEPER WATER

1. The conclusion to John's gospel appears at first glance to be minimalist, an unadorned and pastoral denouement to the proximate dramatic events which unfolded in Jerusalem. Our Lord shows the disciples where to find the best fishing; he fixes breakfast for them; he tells Peter to care for his disciples.

2. For our divine lesson today, we ask the Spirit of Truth to guide us into the deeper waters of this gospel story. [cf. Jn 21:1-19] We will learn that John's gospel subtly but clearly establishes discipleship as a procession of faith events situated in the ordinary circumstances of life.

PROCESSION OF GRACE

3. This said, the activities and milestones associated with discipleship are not random events that occur in the absence of an expressive context. To the contrary, the work of Christian discipleship is ordered to the norms of discipleship established by Jesus Christ in the new covenant of grace.

4. And it is precisely in God's grace that all activities and milestones of the Christian life take on a greater meaning. Thus in the procession of grace all ordinary events become extraordinary--to the degree that a disciple consecrates them through fervent prayer and worship in the Spirit and unites them to the merits of Christ's passion, death and resurrection.

ALL THINGS RESTORED

5. In the ages before Christ was lifted up on the cross, man staggered about in the ruined landscape of his own humanity. Severed from the context of grace, the charisms of order and procession in human relationships collapsed, and man's hope of abiding in relationship with God was devastated.

6. In Christ, all things are restored. What was lost has been found. [cf. Lk 15:24] The cross has become for the world a sword of truth. Magnified and defended by the Spirit of Pentecost, grace entered the world to order what formerly had been enslaved to disorder, to gather anew in procession all that which had been scattered.

WITNESS TO THE TRUTH

7. Not least have the powers of suffering and death been made to submit to the name of Jesus and commanded to acknowledge the fruitfulness of the very thing they opposed. Christ's resurrection has broken the power of suffering and death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the sign of God's absolute victory and an irrefutable witness to the truth.

8. This said, a reexamination of the gospel's last chapter reveals itself to be more complex and expressive than one might initially suppose. The form and nature of discipleship--apart from the particular nuances distinguishing one person's stewardship from another--is a sharing in the order and procession of grace.

SEQUENTIAL MOVEMENT

9. Discipleship endows the Body of Christ with the charisms of trusting, experiencing, recognizing, persevering, gathering and commissioning. Each is a unique gift in its own right, contributing magnitude, direction and sense to the gospel message.

10. Together they form a sequential movement--apparent in John's recollection of the reunion between the risen Christ and his disciples at Galilee--and one which characterizes the nature of discipleship and the order of salvation.

STRANGER ON SHORE

11. Peter intends to go fishing at night on the black waters of the Galilee; unfortunately, they catch nothing in spite of their best efforts. At daybreak a stranger on the nearby shore asks if they were successful. In response to their disappointment, he directs them to cast their net over the starboard side for a catch.

12. He speaks with authority, and they trust him. Their confidence in the stranger is not misplaced. Persevering, they make a haul of large fish and experience the satisfaction of their work. The fact that they could not hoist the teeming nets into the boat sets the scene for a remarkable procession of beginnings and endings, promise and fulfillment.

STUNNING ENCOUNTER

13. Unquestionably, the sequence of night, dawn and harvest prompts each of the struggling fishermen to recall an event of the past. Redolent of wind and water, sweat and the smell of fish, their thoughts are kindled by a sudden but obscure anticipation, the searing recollection of sinfulness, and the memory of a stunning encounter with a remarkable stranger who once called out from shore, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." [Lk 5:4]

14. An echo, a whisper, the trace of a confession emerges into Peter's consciousness, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." [Lk 5:5] Wholly oblivious that the person on shore is Jesus--"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" [Lk 5:8]--Peter goes about securing the boat and the net of flailing fish.

OVERFLOWING NET

15. His reverie is broken by the shout of the disciple whom Jesus loved. He has recognized the stranger as Jesus of Nazareth. "It is the Lord!" he cries. [Jn 21:7] Peter trusts the Beloved Disciple whose eyes, like those of the watchman, are alert for any sign of good news. [cf. Psa 127:1] Though a hundred yards or more from land, Peter responds first; he leaps from the boat and swims to shore.

16. The boat and net secured, the apostles gather with Jesus before a charcoal fire. At the Lord's express command, Peter alone returns to the boat to gather up the great harvest of fish; he hauls the overflowing net to shore. Fortified by the Lord's banquet, the assembled Church turns to Christ to accomplish what individuals cannot do alone--the commissioning of certain of its members for apostolic service in the Kingdom of God.

COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

17. The need is urgent. The gospel net encloses an astonishing number of souls and to keep it from breaking, steadfast and courageous apostles must be commissioned for its care. The age of spiritual darkness is at an end; the light of dawn has broken the power of suffering and death. "Do not be afraid", the Lord had said to Peter on this very shore, "henceforth you will be catching men". [Lk 5:10]

18. The conclusion to John's gospel is notable for its emphasis on the cost of discipleship. All night Peter and the others fished without success. Only at the last instant did their hopes and dreams of faith come true. The prospect of hard work cannot be avoided: no other door exists by which one may enter fully into the Christian experience.

TRUE RECOGNITION

19. "If any man would come after me," says the Lord, "let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." [Mk 8:34] The gospel clearly teaches that true recognition of Jesus as the Christ requires a sustained effort over an extended period of time. Moreover, such recognition is not a case of man's willing it but the lavish grace awarded by God to those who persevere in the ordinary events of life with an eye on the shore.

20. A comprehensive commitment to the demands of trust, experience, recognition and perseverance makes possible the festal gathering of what has been scattered. The community of faith gathers with Jesus Christ who has prepared a banquet for his own. The richness and fertility of these events offers the disciples the opportunity to ponder the convergence of humanity and divinity, an occasion to refresh themselves in the context of grace.

ASSERTING FIDELITY

21. After breakfast, the Lord Jesus invites Peter to walk with him along the shore of Galilee. Three times in quick succession, the Lord Jesus casts Peter's love for him in the crucible of truth. Peter reasserts his fidelity, painfully conscious of the memory of his shameful apostasy in the courtyard of Caiaphas the high priest. Three times Jesus challenges him to purify his intentions, reaffirm his solidarity with Divine Love, and shepherd faithfully the infant Church.

22. Thus the order and procession of divine grace: Recognizing decisively that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Lord of our lives; Experiencing the miracle of Our Lord's blessing and harvest in all things; Gathering together in fellowship to celebrate Holy Eucharist; The universal Church persevering in the salvation and care of souls; Trusting in the will of God revealed by the Holy Spirit in Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church; Commissioning priests, religious, and laity alike to enlighten the broken and hungry world in Jesus' name.

BELOW THE SURFACE

23. Thus the whole of our lives is inseparable from Christ and his Bride, the Church. All this derives from a simple story of bread and fish. We discover the truth of this gospel story, as in the beauty of the Sea of Galilee, far below the surface of words or waves. So it is with the human person.

24. To look at the human face, even the countenance of one whom we love very much, is to scan only the surface. We know that exterior beauty is painfully thin in comparison to the vast interior depth of the human person. There is more to being fully human than words or waves; this truth may be discerned by gazing into a person's eyes, that is, through the window of his heart and soul.^[2]

ARTISTRY OF TRUTH

25. As John's Gospel admirably illustrates, endings connect inevitably with beginnings. Superlative achievement is the child of dreams, and what is heroism but the artistry of truth? Perhaps this gospel story reveals to you something about yourself. Life is not so tangible and programmed as one may suppose.

26. There is more to faith, hope, and love, and life itself than mere human experience. Human perception and judgment dissolve in the infinite depth of the divine, transcendent glory of God the Father. How great is the Holy Spirit! The window through which man gazes into the mystery of Divine Truth! How great is the human capacity to experience the joy of Divine Love! To perceive in the majesty of Jesus Christ the image and substance of the Unoriginated Origin of all things seen and unseen!^[3]

SWIFT CURRENT

27. Concerned as it is with work and breakfast, the gospel story makes clear that all of man's activities--whether the least significant or the breathtakingly monumental--is swept up into great procession of salvation history, there to be rejected or received, purged or purified, consecrated or condemned.

28. As a leaf yields to the swift current of water which carries it, so all things will be delivered over to the invincible procession of divine grace and the will of him who established it as a surety against hope. Christ knows your every thought, he sees all of your actions, he understands your every hope and dream. Yet, a little while and the nations of the world roil like the waves of the sea.

HOLY SACRIFICE

29. Do not be afraid. On the contrary, the Lord will be pleased if you reject even the remnants of sin and disorder that cling to your soul. Accept the trials of the present day as a test of God's sovereign rule. Strive to recognize the hand of Christ that governs your destiny. The Holy Spirit, your most intimate companion, will guide you in the ways of God's love.

30. You gather in fellowship today, as on all Sundays, to rest from your labors and to celebrate the feast of Our Lord's passion, death and resurrection. In this House of God, in the festal gathering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you reunite with Jesus on the shore. Upon this altar is your sustenance--the "high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy". [Isa 57:15]

MAKE EVERY EFFORT

31. Know that your baptism marks you for service to Christ and his Church. Therefore, trust the Lord in all things. Experience the life of grace. Recognize in Christ your deliverance. Persevere in the salvation and care of souls. Gather always in the name of the Lord. The finish line is in sight; he who stumbles will fall as though he had never entered the race. [cf. Heb 12:1]

32. Make every effort to acquit yourself well in the judgment of Christ who commissioned you at baptism to be a worthy priest, prophet and king in his name. Let this eucharistic celebration prophesy the glorious day of eternity and the "rising of the Morning Star in your hearts". [2Pet 1:19b; cf. Jn 9:5; Rev 22:20] We speak of the Kingdom of God: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints." [Rev 22:21] Alleluia. Alleluia.

^[1] Cycle C /Third Sunday of Easter /Acts 5:27-32, 40-41 /Rev 5:11-14 /Jn 21:1-19.

^[2] Cf Thomas Merton, THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976) 170. "The soul of a man, left to its own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. It is perfect in its own nature, but it lacks something that it can only receive from outside and above itself. But when the light shines in it, it becomes in a manner transformed into light, and seems to lose its nature in the splendor of a higher nature, the nature of the light that is in it." Merton, deceased, was a convert to Catholicism and a monk of the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky, USA.

^[3] Cf The General Council of Florence, Decree for the Copts, THE CHRISTIAN FAITH in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, "The Triune God", no. 326, ed. Jacques Dupuis SJ (1442; New York: Alba House, 2001) 156. "All that the Father is or has, he has not from another but from himself; he is the origin without origin. All that the Son is or has, he has from the Father; he is origin from origin."