On John 21:1-19

I typically write notes for myself on my phone during homily. I refer to these notes every now and then for reflection.  I found today's homily of Fr. Ron at the Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in Orlando, Fl very enlightening.

The John 21:1-19 focused on two things:

Casting the net

The apostles while fishing caught nothing.  At dawn, Jesus appeared to them and asked them if they caught anything and they answered "No".  He then asked them to cast the net on the right side, and they followed His instructions and caught 153 large fish.

What is the significance of the 153?  Fr. Ron shared that perhaps the 153 was the known species of fish or



the number of countries or known groups people at that time.  The number 153 signified all of mankind. It
also meant that the apostles as fishers of men will have to "fish" for all of mankind.

My Reflection: We have taken on the role of evangelization and will have to help the Church as evangelists in this Year if Faith.  We may not catch any as we cast our nets but we have to continually cast our nests in faith every chance that we get with a prayer that we will be able to lead others to Christ.  What have we done of late for evangelization?  Have we cast our nets in faith?

Forgiveness 

Jesus forgave Peter without Peter's asking for it.  He asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him and Jesus replied, "feed, tend and feed" my sheep.  That is all that He asked of  Peter.

My reflection: We ought to follow Jesus as Peter did.  We have to "feed, tend and feed" others as Jesus instructed Peter. This continues to echo into the present day. Are we taking on the task or are we just bystanders as things happen around us?

Fr. Ron also shared that -
- forgiveness is not a human character, we therefore have to ask the grace of God to help us forgive others
- sometimes we cannot seem to forgive due to a sense of "moral superiority"
- forgiveness is a strength not a weakness
- forgiveness is not excusing the behavior of the person who wronged us, it is forgiving the person
- forgiveness releases oneself from the burden of the hurt one carries in his heart!

"to the greater glory of God"

Bro Sonny @ 58