Spread The Good News

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐕𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟒:𝟏-𝟏𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟖: 𝟏-𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟕𝐚 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟐𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟒

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟕) 

         Every person born into this world has a purpose and it is up to you to find your purpose in life. This is where upbringing and education come in. Children receive their first teaching in their growing up years from their parents, relatives, teachers. There are times when religion plays an important part in the development in this learning stage.

         From there you step into other stages of learning until you find your niche. Haven’t you noticed that in your growing up stage you are slowly being drawn into your future. Some will find certain attachments to a particular field – it could be teaching, medicine, law, business, engineering, preaching and even the priesthood.

        Whatever it is, each person is unique and their future calling is shaped by how they were brought up and the kind of education they pursue. At times, you will find your true calling late in life which was what happened to me and my late spouse Malou when we were introduced to the renewal movement many years back when both of us were semi-retired and had lots of time in our hands.

         And today’s Gospel narrative is special to us as a couple for the simple reason that me and my spouse Malou were probably among the catch that the disciples had while they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias.

         It happened that Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples have been fishing all night and have caught nothing (𝐯.𝟐). When morning came, Jesus whom the didn’t recognize stood on the shore and finding they caught nothing told the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they did and they were unable to haul the net because of the large number of fish (𝐯𝐯.𝟒-𝟔).

         The net was full of large fish, 153 to be exact and this is why this Gospel is very special to us because we belong to Marriage Encounter Weekend Class No. 153 that was held at the La Sallette Retreat Center in Silang, Cavite on Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 1989 and it was in those three days that I in particular was caught by the net the disciples cast into the sea.

         Of course I struggled to free myself from the net looking for an untended portion of the net where I could squeeze myself out for life was much better if I were to remain free to wallow in the sea and it was not important if it were a sea of sin since life was to me much better in terms of material returns.

         But the Lord had other plans for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future (𝐉𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟗:𝟏𝟏) and I could only thank the Lord that He chose me to be one of the 153 that was caught in the net because now I have become prosperous although not materially but spiritually that is.

         This Gospel is also filled with many lessons as with all the other Gospel narratives. In fact, the whole of the Sacred Scriptures should be viewed and appreciated as an encapsulation of all the lessons that we need to know our purpose in life and learn to live a fulfilled life.

         The first lesson to be learned here is that this Gospel points to the reality of the Resurrection. Many skeptics in those days believed that the appearances of Christ were mere visions of the disciples and this passage reinforces the reality that Jesus was alive because a vision could not possibly cook a meal and break bread with the disciples.

         The focus of this Gospel is to emphasize once and for all that the Resurrected Christ was not a vision nor a figment of the imagination and Jesus chose to appear on the shore to be seen not only by the disciples but by others who make a living by the sea who come to the shore to buy the catch from fishermen coming in from the sea.

         The second lesson has something to do with respect for authority. Notwithstanding the fact that Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟕) the disciples still recognized him to be the leader of the group. This was evident in 𝐯.𝟕 when John the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter: “𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝!” and John could have waded ashore since he was the one who recognized Jesus. Instead, he told Peter it was the Lord on the shore, and this denotes respect for their leader.

         Another lesson comes from the number of fish caught – 153 in all – and St. Jerome has an explanation for why John in this Gospel attached a number to the catch because for all intents and purposes the Apostle that Jesus loved could have just written a large number of fish.

         St. Jerome said that in the sea there are some 153 different kinds of fishes and the catch depicted in this passage includes each of these 153 kinds of fish and that number symbolizes a future event in which there will come a time when men from all nations will be gathered together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

        If we again reflect deeply on this passage, we will see that the large catch of fish was caught in the net that did not break. The net stands for the Church as it stands today where there is room for all men of all nations.

         John is giving a prophetic view of the Church at the time he wrote this Gospel in that the Church will be universal and devoid of any exclusivity. As with the love of the Father expressed in Jesus Christ, this Church that Jesus established through Peter is not and should not be selective.

         This is the message that lies hidden in this Gospel for today which should remind us in the way that we pursue our task to bring others to Christ which means that evangelization is the work of the entire Church and not just by a favored group or organization. In terms of Community life, evangelization should be the thrust of the entire Community moving as one and not by just one ministry, apostolate, chapter or district for that matter.

         More importantly, we should also realize that it is not us who are evangelizing but it is the Holy Spirit who is acting in us. This is why we should not even venture to think that we, them or they are better positioned in the building up of the Church but we, on the other hand, should rely on the power of the Holy Spirit who as St. Ambrose says is above all things.

         Thus, it presupposes that the Lord will equip those whom he chooses to bring the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth which means that regardless of how unassuming a person might be he will be equipped and empowered if God shall so choose.

         This was what Jesus Christ did to his disciples who were ordinary men, yet they stood tall when they received power from on high. A man may not come from a polished background, but he can become a pillar of faith when he is empowered by God which is why it pains me to see in some church organizations when leadership positions are given to men in striped suits rather than to those in denims overall.

         This should be the same with us especially those who are in positions of leadership in the Church and that is for us to remain steadfast in our faith in God through Jesus Christ and not just pay lip service to being guided by the Holy Spirit which has become the most abused word in the Church today especially in decision-making.

         It would also be wise to listen to what the Psalmist said that we need to trust in God and not in men (𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟖:𝟖; 𝟏𝟒𝟔:𝟑) such that we must all learn to yield to God’s counsel and not cloud our vision of biases towards men. In fact, our bias when it becomes selective is an aftermath of pride. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 10, 2026)