Jesus
revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.He revealed
himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his
disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing. They said to him, “We
also will come with you. So they went out and got into the boat, but that night
they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them,
“Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he
said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find
something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the
number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the
Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment,
for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in
the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a
charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the
fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full
of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net
was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the
disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you? because they realized it was the
Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like
manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his
disciples after being raised from the dead.
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Reflection:
Do you
sometimes feel abandoned by Jesus? There are times that we go through some arid
stages in our life. We feel abandoned by our friends, relative and even Jesus,
But does Jesus abandon us? Perhaps our friends and relatives would abandon us
especially when they become rich or achieve an exalted status in life. But
Jesus abandoning us? Never will He abandon us.
With
the death of Jesus the disciples had no other option but to go back to their
former way of life: none other than fishing. It must have been hard for them to
go back fishing for they’ve been detached from it for three long years. Perhaps
they even thought that they would never go back to fishing but something tragic
happened to their Lord and Master.
Therefore
there was no other choice for them but to go back to their former job as
fishermen. From being fishermen they became fishers of men and now they go back
again to being real fishermen. After three long years they went fishing for the
very first time, it must been very hard for them. Perhaps when they were at sea
they were still thinking of Jesus and terribly longing for His presence. That’s
why they failed to concentrate on fishing in the process they caught nothing.
Then
the feeling of weariness, loneliness and the feeling of being abandoned was
immediately replaced by joy and hope when they saw Jesus waiting for them
ashore. Jesus asked them, have you caught anything? They said none, then Jesus
told them put once again your nets at sea where you are right now. No need for
you to go far, drop it where you are right now. And then the miracle happened
they caught an enormous number of fish.
Relating
this gospel with our personal journey with Jesus. There would also be episodes
of weariness, loneliness and perhaps feeling of abandonment. But in the midst
of these episodes let us stay the course for Jesus will make His way back to us
when we least expect it. Never will He leave much less abandon us for
He will always be there for us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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