The mission of the Church. Each evangelist in his own way shows the universal mission of the Church, as a fundamental part of Jesus’ message. In today’s Gospel, Saint John makes use of the symbols in his own way. The sea as an image of the world, of all people, was common in the time of Jesus and of the evangelist; the image of the ship, i.e. the ship of state, was equally common, at least among the Greeks and Romans. In basing themselves on some texts of the New Testament (Lk 5:3; Mt 8:23; Mk 1:17; Jn 21:1-4) the early Christians spoke about the ship of the Church. There is another symbol used exclusively by John. I’m referring to the number of fish caught: one hundred fifty-three. In Jesus’ contemporary culture, the symbol of a number had a great value and was used rather frequently. The number 153 implies fullness, wholeness. It is usually explained in two ways: 1+5+3 is equal to 9, which is a multiple of 3 and thus stresses the greatest degree of plenitude. Another way of explaining the full and whole value of this number is as follows: 144 is the multiple of 12; if we add 9 to 144 we get 153. It’s a way to emphasize wholeness even more. In summary, the mission of the Church, in the sea of the world, is none other than to be fishermen of all people with no exceptions, and lead them to the safe harbor of faith and eternity. This image of the ship and of fishing is then complemented by another: that of the shepherd and his sheep. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, tells Peter, "Feed my sheep." Ezekiel had talked about God as the Shepherd of Israel; now Jesus resorts to the same image to speak of himself as Shepherd of the Church, and entrusts Peter with his mission. The Good Shepherd is he who takes care of, loves, protects and feeds his sheep and defends them from the wolves to the point of giving his life for them. Peter’s mission and the mission of the shepherds in the Church is to see to it that all the sheep attain God’s salvation.

P. Antonio Izqeuirdo, L.C., © Dicastery for the Clergy

The mission in the global village. In our day and age, the world has become a global village. The mass media, the world of finance and that of ideas know no boundaries. A pontifical ceremony may be watched simultaneously in any corner of the globe, wherever there is a television set, and thanks to the Internet, one can engage in a chat on any subject with men and women thousands of miles away from home. By means of all these instruments, Christians come into contact with people who have a different view of life, who live according to other models of existence, who practice another religion and accept other beliefs. This phenomenon may arouse a certain state of crisis in Christians, it may even make them fall into a certain religious relativism. Equally, however, it may be a wonderful chance for them to put into practice, on a very large scale and with the most advanced means, the universal mission of the Church. When has the Church had more means to preach Christ? Perhaps we are faced with the most imposing historical challenge in the universal work of the Church. This great universal mission is not carried out by a few missionaries in non-evangelized lands; it may be carried out by any Christian, even you, from your home or from your office. It may clearly be seen that the universal mission of the Church requires that each Christian be someone who believes in his faith, and is prepared to explain it to anyone who may ask about it, in the street, at the office or on the Internet.nts.

P. Antonio Izqeuirdo, L.C., © Dicastery for the Clergy