GOSPEL - John 21:1-14

+ Proclamation of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ according to John.

At that time:
1 And Jesus appeared unto his disciples again by the
sea of Tiberias.
The apparition went like this:
2 Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus,
were together,
Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and
two other disciples of Jesus.
3 Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing'.
They said, 'We’re coming with you too'.
They went out and got on the boat, but they didn’t
catch anything that night.
4 And it was now morning, and Jesus stood on the shore.
But the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
5 Then Jesus said,
'Young men, do you have anything to eat? '
They said, 'No'.
6 Jesus said to them:
'Cast the net to the right of the barge, and ye shall find. '
They cast the net and could not pull it out, because
of the quantity of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
'It is the Lord! '
Simon Peter, hearing that it was the Lord, put on his
garment, for he was naked, and cast himself
into the sea.
8 The other disciples came with the boat, dragging
the net with the fish.
In fact, they were not far from the land, but only about
a hundred meters.
9 As soon as they had trodden the earth, they saw
burning coals, with fish on top, and bread.
10 Jesus said to them:
Bring some of the fish that Apanhastes.
11 Then Simon Peter got into the boat and dragged
the net to the land.
And it was full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three;
and in spite of many fishes the net was not broken.
12 Jesus said to them, 'Come and eat'.
None of the disciples dared to ask who he was, for they
knew that he was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and distributed
it to them.
And he did the same thing with the fish.
14 This was the third time that Jesus, risen from the dead,
appeared to the disciples.
Word of Salvation.

Reflection

The scene described by John takes place on the shores
of Lake Tiberias.
A group of Galilean fishermen, disciples of Jesus, after
the failure in the night fishing, achieves abundant
fishing, when they throw their nets to the side indicated
by the unknown who tells them about the beach.
After Jesus, Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved are
the protagonists of the scene.
Peter is the most striving fisherman; the other disciple
is the first to recognize Jesus.
John then narrates the disciples' meal with the risen Lord.
Spontaneously we are led to think of the Eucharist,
which the Christian communities celebrated and
celebrate with the absolute conviction of the
Lord’s presence.
The text describes, in a symbolic way, the mission of
the early Church and the portrait of communities that
remain barren when they are deprived of Christ, but
which become fruitful when they obey his word and
live by his presence.
After fishing, Jesus invites the disciples for a meal
prepared by Himself: Come to lunch'.
In this meal, the figure of the Eucharist, the risen Jesus
himself offers to eat.
His mysterious presence provokes in the disciples that
kind of chill typical of theophanies.
The Evangelist’s conclusion is an invitation to the
ecclesial community of all times to find the meaning
of its vocation by focusing on Jesus as Lord of life,
because it is at the double table of the Word and the
Eucharist that the Church makes her
action among men fruitful.