“from now on you will be catching men”

 
Why did Christ teach from Peter’s ship? Peter was selected to be the rock on which Jesus built His church. Here, Jesus is literally standing on this “rock” teaching the truth. “By this He showed that the true doctrine is preached only from that Church of which Peter is the head (Jn. 21:15), which is here represented by his ship. Amid storms of persecution Jesus has preserved and will preserve this ship, His Church, until the end of time. (Mt. 16:18). Peter still guides the bark in the unbroken line of his successors, and Jesus still teaches from this ship the same doctrine through the bishops and priests, as His co-operators, with whom He has promised to remain to the end of the world (Mt. 28:20).”[i]

MUSIC – “Gates of Hell 2” by Akalyte
The Church is called the Ark of Peter. The gates of hell will not prevail against this ship.

Search: Chair of Saint Peter

Why was it that Peter and his assistants were able to catch so many fish after catching nothing all day? They first caught no fish because they were throwing out their nets in confidence that they would be able to catch fish by relying on their own talents, instead of the Lord.  St. Ambrose said, “‘This example proves how vain and fruitless is presumptuous confidence, and how powerful, on the contrary, is humility, since those who had previously labored without success, filled their nets at the word of the Redeemer.’ Let us learn from this our inability, that we begin our work only with God, that is, with confidence in His help, and with the intention of working only for love of Him, and for His honor. If we do this, the blessing of the Lord will not be wanting.”[ii]
 
In the Gospel it says Jesus saw two boats and that He got into one of the boats. For fishermen, their boats are their livelihood. Jesus sees our lives and makes a conscience act of will to enter into our lives. He chooses us. Will we choose Him? What is important in our lives, what is our boat? Just as Jesus changed water (human effort) into wine (divine intervention) at the Wedding at Cana, Jesus shows us again through the miraculous catch of fish that human efforts are in vain without divine intervention. . Through Christ, the natural becomes supernatural. Any catch can be turned into a “great number of fish” through Christ’s intervention and will.

At the end of the Gospel, the Apostles “left everything and followed him”. Jesus comes into our boats, our lives, but ultimately asks us to trust in Him and leave our boats, our lives, behind for a Life in Him. We leave our small boats of selfishness and isolation to enter into the fullness of the Ark of Peter (the Church), the boat given us by Christ. It takes trust to leave “our boat” behind. We can live in the shallow waters of life, with our conversations, friendships, routines, but Christ asks us to leave this shallowness and “put out into deep water”. Jesus knows that “put[ting] out into the deep” is scary for the Apostles and for us, so He consoles us to “be not afraid”.  

In the next two lessons [links below], we will discuss Saint Augustine’s uses a boat analogy to help us better understand the role of the Church in the salvation of souls.

Search: Full of Grace
Search: Once Saved Always Saved?
 
What does the net represent? The net represents Christ and His Church. St. Ambrose says, “The word of truth which, so to speak, forms the net-work of gospel preaching with which the successors of the apostles, the bishops and priests, draw souls from the darkness of error to the light of truth, and from the depths of the abyss to raise them to heaven.”[iii]
 
Why do the Apostles’ call to their partners for help? The Apostles call for help because they cannot get the all fish by themselves. Similarly, by analogy, our priests today are not are not alone in bringing the good news to everyone. We too must also draw men and women into the church. Lastly, we are called to labor, fast, pray, and perform other good works for us and the whole world.[iv]
 
Why did Jesus choose poor and illiterate fishermen to be His Apostles? Jesus wanted to show that the Catholic Church was not founded or proliferated solely through man, but of God. If we really consider the reality of these men’s lack of education and spiritual training, “how could it be possible, without the evident assistance of God, that poor, illiterate fishermen could overthrow proud paganism, and bring nations to receive the doctrine of the crucified God-Man Jesus, who to the Jews was an abomination, to the Gentiles a folly!”[v]
 
See the following Link to Liturgy Lessons on the Priesthood

Search: The New Priesthood 
Search: The Priesthood [Part I] 
Search: The Priesthood [Part II] 
Search: The Priesthood: A Gift of Self 
 
VIDEO – Fishers of Men TRAILER
This is a trailer of the dynamic video speaking about the vocation of the Priesthood.
***To watch the full two part videos look in the “Priesthood” Lesson.***

[i] Gofines, The Church’s Year, pg. 353
[ii] ibid.
[iii] ibid.
[iv] ibid.
[v] ibid.