They were probably cold in the morning after their night outside, and needed to warm themselves by the fire.

When was the last time that Peter had warmed himself by a fire? What did he do then? Nice contrast with what happens while warming himself around this fire. From denial of Jesus and shame to forgiveness, mercy, and becoming the Rock upon which the Church is built.

I had glossed over the fact that they are standing around a fire warming themselves until you pointed it out, Laura. Thank you very much for the insight!

However, in today’s gospel the catch of fish is highly symbolic. The central symbolism is that Jesus was giving the Apostles a new calling. They were now to fish for souls. And the important part is that if they attempted to do this by their own efforts, they would come up empty handed. If, however, they did it at the Lord’s command, in His way, within His timing, then their efforts would provide an abundance of good fruit. More than they could ever imagine!

Sometimes we tend to come up with many ways to convince people of what we believe. But the key is to humble ourselves before God and realize that we are incapable of convincing others about our faith and why we believe what we believe unless the Lord is leading the way and giving the direction. This tells us we should wait on Him and let Him speak. We must listen to His voice and respond only when He leads. Evangelization is a response to Jesus rather than something we do by our own effort. This is the central message of this miraculous event.

Many years ago, an elderly woman sitting next to me at Mass told me about a friend she was ministering to in hospital. She said he had stopped going to church and she was concerned for his eternal soul after he passed away. I asked her if he objected to her praying over him, for him. She said No. I suggested that he heard her, but perhaps was unable to express whatever he might have been thinking/feeling, and that the rest was between him and God. As mother Theresa said so wisely “it is never between you and them, it’s between them and God”.

God bless