Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Leonardo Mercado SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Friday in the Octave of Easter
The miraculous catch of fish in Jn 21:1-14 is similar to that in Lk. 5:1-11. The first incident happened at the beginning of Christ’s ministry when he was teaching the crowd by the Sea of Tiberias. But the latter incident happened after Christ’s resurrection.
In the first incident, Christ used Simon Peter’s boat as the latter told Simon Peter to cast his net. Peter caught so much fish that the catch almost filled his boat and that of his companions, James and John.
The moral of both incidents is that without Christ we cannot accomplish much. In the parable of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-17), Jesus tells us: “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”
A lot of commentaries are on the symbolism of the 153 large fishes which Peter’s net caught. William Barclay says that according to St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, “In the sea there are 153 different kinds of fishes; and that the catch is one which includes every kind of fish; and that therefore the number symbolizes the fact that some day all men of all nations will be gathered together to JesusChrist.”
The number symbolizes the apostles’ universal mission. That the net is not torn means that Christ’s Church, of which Peter is the rock, will remain until the end of time.
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