"One hundred and fifty-three large fish," one hundred and fifty-three...

I wonder who counted. You know, was there one guy over there, "...one forty-nine, one fifty, one fifty-one, one fifty-two, one fifty....." Jesus says, "Come over and have breakfast."

"I can't come. I'm counting. Don't distract me. Now where was...? Now I'm mixed up. Was it one fifty-two or one fifty-three?"

I've got to tell you a secret. Nobody knows how many fish were caught that night. Nobody knows, and nobody cares. But the scholars of the Bible point out to us that John, the Evangelist, who wrote about this scene, maybe thirty years after it happened, he was concerned about something much more important, something bigger. You see, at the time of Jesus, in the society that Jesus was in, a lot of scholars point out that there was an understanding, a common story among the people, that in the whole world, in all the oceans and in all the seas, there were one hundred and fifty-three kinds of fish, one hundred and fifty-three types of fish. (We would call it one hundred and fifty-three species of fish.)

So, John is saying to us, "There is room for everyone, all one hundred and fifty-three, in the risen life of Jesus, in being saved by Jesus, in the Kingdom of God. There is room for all kinds of odd fish, lots of odd fish. And the nets will not be broken. That's the message he wants to give us.

And that's good news! Because, when you think about it, in the time of Jesus and the religious institution that He was raised up in, there was kind of a feeling that there wasn't room for a lot of fish. You had to be very special, and not at all odd, to be in the Kindgom of God. To be in the Kingdom of God, really it was very difficult unless you were well-off and well-educated. You had to be well off! Remember, to be saved, you had to be among those who kept the Sabbath, who did nothing on the Sabbath. Guess who does nothing on the Sabbath? Those who have somebody else doing the work for them! And you had to read the Law, and know the Law, and read the Torah. Guess who gets to do that? That very small group, at the time of Jesus, who knew how to read and write. And you also have to give tithes and sacrifices, possible but very difficult unless you are well-off and well-educated. Jesus comes along, and the message is .... all the fish, all the fish .... and the nets will not break!

And we find in early Christianity there are well-educated, well-off people. There are Sadducees and Pharisees who become followers of Jesus and His way, but also the poor and also women, who were considered second-class citizens, and also, not just Jewish people, but Gentiles, and not just some Gentiles, but both those who were free and those who were slaves. Room for all the fish .... and the nets will not break. That's good news... odd fish and the nets won't break.

Now, we have a cleaned-up way of saying that, and you're going to hear it in a few moments from our brothers and sisters who are going to be confirmed. We have a cleaned up way of saying "all the fish, the odd fish, and the nets won't break." The phrase we use for it is "Catholic.... Catholic." In a few moments, we'll be professing our faith together with you and we'll believe in "one, holy, Catholic Church." Now, what's amazing is if you go down the street to Hillcrest Congregational or over to St. Andrew's Presbyterian or down to Faith Lutheran or down the street to Resurrection Episcopal, they're all making the same act of faith today. They're all saying, "I believe in one, holy catholic church." Doesn't that sound strange? I'm a Lutheran, and I'm saying "I believe in the catholic church." But the word "catholic" doesn't mean "Roman Catholic" there. It means "universal." It means "all the fish .... and the nets won't break."

I love the description of the Church given by (Now that he's not condemned and he's famous, I claim him as a relative.)... James Joyce. James Joyce looked at the Roman Catholic Church. His description was, "Here comes everybody." Here comes everybody, all the fish .... and the nets won't break. That's what we're called to, and we're not always very good at it. You know what happens in a parish, people get involved with each other. They work together. They become a tight circle, and the people on the outside feel left out. People start working in a parish and doing things and, before long, the same people are doing everything and other people feel left out. People come to church and there is silence. We've got to talk to God, which means we shut up and don't talk to anybody. And you feel left out. And our challenge is to overcome that.

I think I told you this story years ago, because it happened to a friend of mine, but it was not, it was NOT in this parish. You got that? It was NOT here! But, she wanted to join the parish where she lived and she showed up and she went to Church every Sunday for three months, and NOBODY ever said a word to her. Nobody talked to her. Nobody said "Hello." She said, "I want to be a parishoner here. I want to be a part of this parish." So, finally she went to one of the ushers. She said, "I want to become a parishoner. How do I become a parishoner?" And the usher said, "Oh, talk to one of the priests after Mass." The priest would zip out here and then zip back in. There was no way of catching him after Mass. So she gave up on that after awhile. She phoned the parish house. She said, "I want to become a parishoner. How do I join this parish?" They said, "Don't worry. We'll mail you a registration form, and you can register. " And she waited one week, two weeks, three months, never got it. She finally went to the highest authority. She came into church. She knelt down and she prayed, "God, help me. I want to be part of this parish. I can't get into this parish." And a loud voice said, "Don't worry my child. I've been trying to get into that parish for twenty years and they won't let Me in either."

You know, the gift and the virtue that we have to have as a community is hospitality .... hospitality. And we try to work at it. That's why we have people greeting you as we come in, why we talk to each other before Mass and at the Greeting of Peace, why we invite you to sing together, to support one another, to walk with one another. The gift of hospitality and the virtue of Hospitality calls on us to be there, even if it's short term, for one another. And to be present to one another. And to pay attention to one another.

I don't know about you. When I was raised in the Catholic Church growing up, they told me the one thing you don't do at Church is pay attention to other people. When you go to Communion, bow your head, shut your eyes, and ignore the people you are in communion with. Some of you remember being taught that? I remember being tweaked in my ear because I was talking to the kid next to me at Communion time... I still feel it!...

But the gift of hospitality means just the opposite, that we are attentive to one another, and there is room for all, for the depressed and for the distant, for the disabled and for the divorced, for those who are very different, for those who are Catholic, and those who are non-Catholic, for those who go to church every day, for those who go to church every week, for those who go to church every month, for those who go to church very rarely, for people (What do we call, "C and E Catholics," Christmas and Easter Catholics?), for them too, for rule-keepers and for rule-benders, all the fish .... and the nets won't break.... Not to worry.

But it is a challenge and there is a tension. Let me point out what the tension is because we are called to the virtue of Hospitality, that this be a place of welcome and a home for everyone. And, at the same time, what we have to hold with that is that we are a people of belief, of conviction, of integrity, of standards, of knowing the difference between right and wrong, and saying we have to do what is right, not just a community of "anything goes." That's a challenge. So, when we come together we have to pray about that. We have to celebrate our coming together. We have to stretch ourselves and work at hospitality. It's not easy.

It's interesting, from the very early days of the Church, writers have talked about the Eucharist, the Mass that we celebrate, as being a preview of what Heaven is, a preview of the Kingdom of God.

I dreamt of Heaven the other night,
And the pearly gates swung wide.
An angel with halo bright ushered me inside.
And there to my astonishment stood folks I judged
And labeled as quite unfit, of little worth and spiritually disabled.
Indignant words rose to my lips, but never were set free.
For every face showed stunned surprise.
.... No one expected me!

All the fish ... and the nets will not break!