A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. Now, in this text, just notice the details which Saint John gives us. Jesus showed himself to the disciples once again at the Sea Of Tiberias, of course, that's the Lake Of Galilee. And this is how the appearance took place. Now just think of this.
When when Saint John is saying, look, this man was crucified, he died on the cross, we saw him buried, and now he's risen from the dead. And here's what happened. And then look at the details he gives. Assembled were Simon Peter, Thomas the twin, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee. Notice how he identifies these people.
Zebedee's sons and two other disciples. Well, it's not just one person, nor was it a crowd. So Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. And they replied, well, we'll go along with you. And they went off and got into their boat.
All through the night, they fished and caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus was standing on the shore, though none of the disciples knew or recognized that it was Jesus. He said to them, children, that's this English translation, have you caught anything to eat? Not a thing, they answered. Well, cast your net off on the starboard side, he suggested, and you will find something.
So they cast their net on that side and took in so many fish that they couldn't haul the net in. They had to drag the net behind the boat. Then the disciple that Jesus loved, that's John who's who's doing the writing here, said to Peter, it's the lord. Now on hearing that, Simon Peter put on some clothes because he was naked and jumped into the water. Now meanwhile, the other disciples came to the boat, several boats, towing the net that was full of fish.
Actually, they weren't far from land, no more than a 100 yards. That's still a good swim in freshwater. Try it. So now when they landed, they saw a charcoal fire already laid with a fish on it and some bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish here that you have caught.
So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled ashore the net loaded with sizable fish. Now notice, 153 of them, not 52 and not 54. They counted the blooming fish. And in spite of the great number, the net was not torn. Notice that little point.
There's a fisherman talking here. I don't know. I don't think Saint John was, but whoever wrote this knew what they were doing. And then Jesus said to him, come and eat your meal. Not one of the disciples presumed to inquire, who are you?
For they knew it was the lord. Jesus came over, took the bread, and gave it to them. And he did the same thing with the fish. And this marked the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after being raised from the dead. And this is the gospel of the lord.
Praise to you, lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Actually, you couldn't have a more circumstantial account of a tremendous event than this. It's like looking at a For example, here's a whole huge building burning furiously without burning would be beyond all control.
And then someone says, well, know there we saved a 153 books. You see, the contrast here between these unthinkable Remember this, unthinkable events. And then little details like how many fish were in the net, that they were sizable fish, that the net was almost breaking, that they had to tow the net behind the boat. Notice those little details. Here they're put in on the same level as these as the tremendous truth that this man that was executed left the grave, and is ashore there cooking a fish and giving them bread.
Now, anyone who had any experience with fishing and this kind of fishing will recognize that this is real. This isn't something people write sitting at a desk. And you say, well, how could a net break with a 153 fish? That means they never saw that kind of a net. Because let me tell you, if you have a 153 sizable fish in the kind of net that they use, and the kind of net that is still used in many places, you've got a very big haul.
You're not talking about a great big ship out at sea bringing in tons of fish at one haul. Or talk about a little boat on a lake with little nets that that men handle and throw out with weights on the bottom. Now, these are important facts when you remember what you're dealing with. You're dealing with with an unspeakable, unimaginable event. And the truth of it rests upon credibility.
I should say our assent, the truth doesn't, but our assent rests upon credibility of the witnesses. And anyone who who who challenges the basic facts here, they've got to face up to this, and you can't escape it. And as I said, the the idea that Christ did not really die, which is still affirmed by certain people. It's absolutely untenable. And the the appearances of our lord.
Notice that he never appeared to a mob. He never appeared to the crowd. And in most instances, however, there was more than one person. Have you ever noticed that? Now, as carnal Newman points out and it's it's somebody said, well, if Christ rose from the dead, why didn't he appear to the whole big crowd?
And as Newman said, if he had done that and the people had seen him, what would the our great psychologist say today? It was just a reaction of a crowd who saw something that wasn't there. I never will forget, and I agree completely with this statement. I agree with it completely. I was at Lourdes.
If any of you have been there at night, and and I happen to be there for the French National Pilgrimage, which is the biggest one that comes. And you know Lourdes is down in a in a deep valley. It's surrounded by good sized mountains, the Pyrenees. And at night, they have a procession around the stations of the cross that winds around the mountain. Huge stations.
It's magnificent. And the people are carrying candles. They're singing. The whole valley is filled with their singing, and this and the candle light all through those mountains. And there there are throngs of people.
And remember, this is built up all during the day from the earliest morning when the beds were open and you had masses and you had the the prayers and the litany's, and then in the afternoon you had a tremendous gathering in this huge plaza when you had three and four rows of people completely around there, and in the open space without anything, one single man crying, shouting out to God almighty to to heal the sick. And then see, and then you had benediction, then you had dinner, then you had this procession. See how this builds up? And I was up there looking down on all this when I heard very distinct English voices, two women behind me, and one said to the other, anything can happen here. I agree with it.
It's electric. So if if our lord had appeared a great number to a mob, this is what they would have said. It's just a mob phenomenon, which is not an unusual thing. We all know that. And notice he he as far as I know, he always appeared to at least more than one person.
Even when he appeared to Thomas, the rest of the disciples were around him. And so I bring it out again. Look at the text. This is from the from Saint John. We you have we have been reading the acts of the apostles, and there you have the the Saint Paul's letters to the Corinthians, fifty seven AD.
The one generation removed. This is important for us to get a hold of. Unless Christ be risen from the dead, same is your faith. But Christ has risen from the dead, and they are Paul's words. In the name of the father, the son, and holy spirit.
Amen.