“So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.”  Jn 21:11

We evangelize as a group united in the Spirit of Jesus. We are a “community” of evangelizers, supporting, encouraging, helping one another, complementing one another with our different gifts we have received from the Spirit.  The Fathers of the Church saw in the unbroken net a symbol of the unity of the Church:

As a group who claim to evangelize we must live a spirituality of communion.  If we are rent by division, quarrels, a spirit of rivalry and competition how can we expect unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus? People will believe that Jesus was sent by God and we are sent by Jesus, only if we give witness to Him by our oneness in the Spirit of Jesus.

We need to cultivate a spirituality of communion.  But we can do this only if we rely on the prayer of Jesus.  If we rely on Jesus’ own prayer of intercession, how can we fail to achieve communion?  If we rely on ourselves how can we not fail?  Let us have confidence because at the Last Supper Jesus prayed:

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may

believe that You sent me.”  Jn 17:20-21

Let us reflect on the teaching of Pope John Paul II:

“To make the Church the home and the school of communion: that is the great challenge facing us in the millennium which is now beginning, if we wish to be faithful to God's plan and respond to the world's deepest yearnings.

But what does this mean in practice? Here too, our thoughts could run immediately to the action to be undertaken, but that would not be the right impulse to follow. Before making practical plans, we need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are being built up. A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart's contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us. A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as "those who are a part of me". This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly, but also as a "gift for me". A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to "make room" for our brothers and sisters, bearing "each other's burdens" (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy. Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, "masks" of communion rather than its means of expression and growth.”
Novo Millennio Ineunte 43           

Jesus called his first disciples from being fishers of fish to become fishers of men.  The Fathers of the Church pointed out the difference between catching fish into the net and catching men into the Kingdom of God. Pope Benedict XVI at his inauguration as Pope said in his homily:

Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true life. The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water, it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital element to serve as human food. But in the mission of a fisher of men, the reverse is true. We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings us into the splendour of God’s light, into true life. It is really true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of God. It is really so: the purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. 

Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees saying: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  Lk. 5:8.  But Jesus said to Simon: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”  Lk.5:10   We, who are called to be Fishers of Men, certainly feel unworthy and inadequate. But Jesus also says to us: “Do not be afraid.”  It is not we who make ourselves fishers of men, but Jesus who will make us fishers of men:

“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”  Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17

Luke tells us: “When they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed him.”  5:11.  To be a fisher of men, all of us, laity, religious or priest, have to leave behind whatever may hinder us to follow Jesus, to bring people into the Kingdom of God.  Not all are called to the radical renunciation of giving up marriage, family and possessions.  But as Fishers of Men, all have to exercise a spirit of detachment. Sometimes we may have to give up rest, comfort, some of our wealth, our time, our desire for praise and applause, in order to serve the cause of evangelization.