We spent Lent preparing for Easter, getting ready to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Maybe we gave up some things, or decided to change our behaviors in various ways. We might have gone to Mass more often, or to Stations of the Cross. Perhaps we were more affirmative about our care for those in need. We probably attended Mass on Easter Sunday or at the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. So, Easter has come and gone. I imagine we've stopped our Lenten observances. So, did it make a difference? Does the fact that we've yet again brought to mind the fact that Jesus suffered, died and rose for us make any difference in our lives, or are we back to doing just what we did before Ash Wednesday? When we read today's Gospel (Jn 21: 1-14) it looks like the fact of Christ's resurrection didn't really change the lives of the disciples, at least at first. In today's reading Jesus has already been revealed to the disciples twice since He rose from the dead, once on the "evening of the first day of the week when the doors were locked" when Jesus appeared, showed His hands and feet, and breathed on them, saying "receive the Holy Spirit." A week later Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time with Thomas present, and stood in their midst. Thomas and the rest of the group believes what they are seeing-- that Jesus has died but raised from the dead, and alive in bodily form. In addition, Jesus has appeared to Mary Magdalene, who has communicated what she experienced back to the group of disciples. So what do they do with all that information? How has that experience changed them? Today's reading would suggest that the answers to my questions are "nothing" and "not much." I say that because the next thing we read after these shocking, dramatic experiences is that Peter has decided to go fishing. Fishing-- that's what he did before he met Jesus, right? Apparently he's gone back to his old life, and 6 other disciples (including Thomas) have joined him. They aren't proclaiming the good news, or reaching out to other followers of Jesus to share their stories-- at least John doesn't mention that. Why? Why hasn't what they have been through changed their lives? One thought, I suppose, is that they are still trying to make some sense of what they just saw and heard, and they're processing the information. Maybe, but if that's what they think is justifying their return to fishing, they're not getting that justification from Jesus. Jesus' message is go and spread the good news. He doesn't say figure it all out first. It would be tempting to say that the problem is that the disciples haven't yet received the Holy Spirit, and point to Pentecost as the time when that happens, and when the message of Christ begins to be preached. The problem with that, at least in John's Gospel, is that Jesus has already breathed on them and told them to "receive the Holy Spirit." That happens at the end of the second time Jesus appears. So what are they waiting for? Perhaps this episode is intended to remind us how hard it is to change our habits and our old ways of doing things. Even though the disciples have experinced the Resurrection in an immediate and personal way, and even though they have received the Holy Spirit, they decide to go fishing. Same old thing. And what happens? They fish all night and catch nothing at all. It is only when they listen to the voice of Jesus-- even before they recognize Him-- that they catch a huge amount of fish. John tells us there are 153 "large fish," and even since people have had great fun speculating about what that number means. Who knows-- in any case it is a huge catch. Does this experience show them the futility of continuing in their old ways, where they fish all night and catch nothing? Does it remind them that when they listen to Jesus' voice they can do wonderful things? Does Peter remember that Jesus told him that He would make him a fisher of men? All things for us to ponder, because I think we are very-much like those disciples who went back to fishing. We go through Lent and Easter, and are we changed? Do we allow ourselves to be made new, to be reborn in a real sense? Do we let ourselves experience, and thus be able to share, true Easter joy? Or have we gone back to fishing, catching nothing? We too have received the Holy Spirit-- at our baptisms, and again at confirmation. We've heard again about the crucifixion and resurrection. We are in Jesus' physical presence (as were the disciples twice in the upper room) when we receive the Eucharist. Perhaps the parallels won't end there. Perhaps like the disciples we might come to realize that we need to change, to hear Jesus even when we don't expect to, and to follow what He says. Real change takes effort, will, prayer, commitment. Real change requires our admission that the old patterns aren't working. Real change means admitting that we aren't catching any fish. Try it-- there really are large fish to be caught out there, maybe even 153 of them.