How to Fill the Nets

April 25 Easter Friday: A thought for those who want to bear prophetic witness through lifestyle

Acts 4:1-12; Psalm 118:1-2,4,22-24,25-27a; John 21:1-14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

It doesn’t take signs and wonders to convert the world; just the “sign of Jonah,” which is Jesus visibly risen in every member of the Church. God sends out his Spirit, our hearts are regenerated, and he will renew the face of the earth. We just have to “cast the net on the right side of the boat.” Which side is that?

It isn’t stupid to say, “the side where the fish are.” We have to go out to those who are hungry—physically and spiritually. To the “poor in spirit” who know they haven’t “got it made” rather than to the complacent. To those who seek Christ rather than to those who stagnate in the security of rules. Pope Francis wrote in The Joy of the Gospel:

“My hope is we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules that make us harsh judges, within habits that make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus keeps saying to us: ‘Give them something to eat.’”

The day of the prophets is here. We need to challenge by word and deed those who want to be challenged.

PRAY: Lord, help me make you the cornerstone.

PRACTICE: Make your life show that “the poor have the Good News brought to them.”