The boat
What was the boat of Simon, a fisherman, useful for? Clearly it was useful for fishing. What was the work, the task of Peter, a fisherman since the time he was a child? Peter fished fish as his living, obviously. According to Jesus, what are the fishing boats alongside the lake and what can they turn into? Who are those fishermen who are washing and repairing the nets on the shore and what can they become? In Jesus, for Jesus, with Jesus, Peter's boat on the shore is no longer a boat, but an ark, the new ark which contains and transmits the Word, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Knowledge, the Wisdom, the supreme Law, the Law of Love, the Procedures of Life for life. In Jesus, for Jesus, with Jesus, Peter's boat became the ark of the new covenant between God and man, a radiant portal of light for the meeting between the Son of God and God's people; it is the means of sublime communication through which Jesus can inspire men and women to fall in love with the evangelical procedures to guarantee a wonderful spiritual and social evolution to live in happiness and peace. In Jesus, for Jesus, with Jesus, Peter's boat is no longer used to catch fish but becomes a luminous channel where God meets man and where man can meet God, it is a tabernacle of communion between man and his Lord; it is the church which leads man to God, the house without doors, where men and women live in communion with one another and with life. In Jesus, for Jesus, with Jesus those fishermen, who were exhausted by working all night long and disappointed because they caught no fish, absorbed in cleaning and reparing the nets on the shore, were no longer fishers of fish, not any longer. Now, if they accepted Jesus' invitation, Peter and his companions would become fishers of men. They would be able to catch the men and women of this generation swimming in the depths of ignorance, to lift them to the knowledge of Jesus and of His liberating message. They would be able to catch men and women of this generation swimming in the sea of deception and lead them to the luminous power and truth of the Gospel procedures. They would be fishermen able to catch God's children and to free them from the ocean of human beliefs, where the induction of thoughts and mental systems not at all linked to human dignity, beauty, freedom and greatness have forcefully submerged humanity. They would be fishermen able to catch God's children and to free them from the dark, treacherous waters of persuasion, which convince men to entrust their fate to a small group of bankers, wealthy landowners, politicians, religious and military leaders, so that this perverse group may, without hindrance, pursue their whims, their boundless greed to the detriment of humanity. Peter and his mates do not really know what will happen to them and to their lives, but to Jesus' words, do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men, they answer yes. Their yes was vibrant, genuine, forceful and full of passionate enthusiasm, full of the Spirit, the Paraclete, a yes expressed with the words: Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets. Peter and his companions accept, they respond affirmatively to Jesus and their response is worthy of belief and admiration, a response upon which humanity can rely with full confidence and total abandonment, because their response to Jesus and to humanity coincided with their decision to leave everything. The text says: When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
The fishermen of men can be fishers of men only if, in the name of their divine task, they leave everything and everyone, absolutely everyone and everything. One cannot catch in harmony with Jesus while being bound to ambition, vanity, self-image, prestige, domination, possession, power, family, reputation, comfort, success and approval. Real fishermen leave everything which belongs to the power and vanity of the world, they are God's ark on earth, the ark which will never be defeated by the power of Satan. The others, even if they bear the name of the Master's fishermen, are impostors who have transformed the church, the boat-ark of the Lord, into a transatlantic liner of power and domination, which is quickly crashing onto rocks that can be barely seen. When the church-liner crashes on the rocks, the leak will be small, but every human mind will be shocked by the speed and violence with which it will sink. John is referring to this religious liner when he prophesies the end in Revelation 18:10, saying: They will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her, and they will say: "Alas, alas, great city, Babylon, mighty city. In one hour your judgment has come. In verse 16 he writes: Alas, alas, great city, wearing fine linen, purple and scarlet, adorned (in) gold, precious stones, and pearls, and in verse 19: They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning: "Alas, alas, great city, in which all who had ships at sea grew rich from her wealth. In one hour she has been ruined. Peter's boat will lead humanity to the encounter with the Lord who is coming back and the liner of religious power will be reduced to nothing.