Father William Nicholas

In the days following the Thanksgiving Day weekend, our society, for the most part, is immersed up to its neck in what many consider to be rampant mass consumption as shoppers flock the stores and markets, looking for that perfect bargain, engaged in the rampant frenzy of a season when people are driven by a spirit of generosity, hoping to move their friends and loved ones with the perfect gift. It is a time of rapid shifting from a banquet of thanks, to the preparation for however they celebrate the Christmas holiday.

The story of the Great Catch of fish is told only twice among the four Gospels, once in Luke and again in John. The Gospel of Luke places the story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and links it with the call of His first disciples. The Gospel of John places it at the end and associates it with the Resurrection. In both cases, the story concludes with an exchange between Jesus and Peter that sets Peter apart as first among equals in the apostolic role of both “fisherman” and “shepherd”.

Of the four Gospels, John has the most elevated, mystical presentation of the mystery of Jesus. As such, some have proposed a number of places where the Gospel can in fact end, having presented the true efficacy of the life and death of Christ in symbolic or theological language or stories.